Knobby club-rush,
Knobby Club-sedge
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.


Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Display IBRA region text
Mount Gambier (SVP02) | Southern Volcanic Plain | Least Concern |
Bridgewater (NCP01) | Naracoorte Coastal Plain | Least Concern |
Glenelg Plain (NCP02) | | Least Concern |
Lucindale (NCP03) | | Least Concern |
Tintinara (NCP04) | | Least Concern |
Kangaroo Island (KAN01) | Kanmantoo | Least Concern |
Fleurieu (KAN02) | | Least Concern |
Mount Lofty Ranges (FLB01) | Flinders Lofty Block | Least Concern |
Broughton (FLB02) | | Least Concern |
Southern Yorke (EYB01) | Eyre Yorke Block | Least Concern |
St Vincent (EYB02) | | Least Concern |
Eyre Hills (EYB03) | | Least Concern [records under Isolepis] |
Talia (EYB04) | | Least Concern |
Eyre Mallee (EYB05) | | Least Concern |
Murray Mallee (MDD02) | Murray Darling Depression | Near Threatened [not typical habitat] |
Murray Lakes and Coorong (MDD03) | | Least Concern |
Lowan Mallee (MDD04) | | Least Concern |
Wimmera (MDD05) | | Near Threatened |
Yalata (NUL03) | Nullarbor | Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii)) |
Mount Gambier (SVP02) | Southern Volcanic Plain | Least Concern |
4 of 4 subregions | Naracoorte Coastal Plain | Least Concern |
2 of 2 subregions | Kanmantoo | Least Concern |
2 of 6 subregions | Flinders Lofty Block | Least Concern |
5 of 5 subregions | Eyre Yorke Block | Least Concern |
4 of 6 subregions | Murray Darling Depression | Least Concern , Near Threatened |
Yalata (NUL03) | Nullarbor | Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii)) |
Botanical art
Kath Alcock paintings: 7
Prior names
Isolepis nodosa
Scirpus nodosus
Common names
Knobby club-rush
Knobby Club-sedge
Etymology
Ficinia named after Heinrich David Auguste Ficinia (1782-1857), a German botanist, physician, naturalist and professor of physics and chemistry. Nodosa from the Latin 'nodus' meaning knot or node, referring to the flower-head.
Distribution and status
Found southern South Australia, especially along the coast. Also found in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Nullarbor, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
An erect rhizomatous sedge to 1 m high. Stems are cylindrical with leaves reduced to sheaths. Flowers occur in globular heads at the tip of the stems. Flowers all year round. Fruits are cylindrical, brown ball containing numerous seeds,at the tip of stems Seeds are tiny orange spherical seeds about the size of a sand grain, less than 1mm long. Seed embryo type is capitate.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between January and December. Collect seed-heads that are brown and come off easily with your fingers. Place the seed-heads in a tray to dry for a week. Then rub the heads by hand and use a fine sieve to separated the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. Seeds are orange brown and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature | BGA MSB | 34,380 (6.3 g) 34,380 (6.3 g) | 57 | 25-May-2004 | MKJ33 South Eastern | 1-Sep-2004 | N/C | +5°C, -18°C |
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
Display
Date | Result | T0 | T50 | Pre-treatment | Germination medium | Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod |
Jul-04 | 84% | 17 | NA |
20% hydrogen peroxide 10 min, water rinse; filter paper over moist sponge; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)