Botanical art
Prior names
Cladium lanigerum
Common names
Desert Saw-sedge
Black Grass Saw-sedge
Etymology
Gahnia named after Dr. Henricus Gahn, 19th century Swedish botanist and student of Linnaeus. Lanigera from Latin meaning woolly, referring to the woolly ligules at the mouth of the sheath.
Distribution and status
Found in southern South Australia on sandy soils in mallee and heathland. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Uncommon in New South Wales. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Nullarbor, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Tufted perennial sedge with slender culms to 30 cm high and 1 mm diameter. Leaves filiform, channelled, erect, pungent, smooth; longer than culm, shorter than or equalling inflorescence; ligule woolly. Inflorescence slender, erect, to 20 cm long, with 2–5 nodes. Flowers in spring and summer. Fruits are dark brown to black narrow dense spike, giving it the local name of 'black grass'. Seeds are dark brown to black three-sided ovoid seed to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide with fine tuberculate surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and March. Collect heads that are dying off, turning dark brown and containing hard dark seeds. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the heads with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. 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 average, at 65%.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSB | 1,500 (0.83 g) | 50+ | 19-Feb-2016 | DJD3331 South Eastern | 65% |
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.