Botanical art
Prior names
Scirpus hookerianus
Scirpus calocarpus
Common names
Hooker's Club-rush
Grassy Club-rush
Etymology
Isolepis, from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal and 'lepis', meaning scale, referring to the glumes. Hookeriana named after Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century, a founder of geographical botany and director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
Distribution and status
Found on the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, Kangaroo Island, Flinders Ranges and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia,growing in seasonally wet areas and creek banks. Also found in all States except the Northern Territory. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Small tufted annual sedge to 12 cm high. Stems setaceous; leaf blades to 3 mm long, filiform, more often absent; bract shorter or longer than the cluster, somewhat glume-like. Spikelets 1 or 2 in a cluster; oblique, ovoid to oblong, angular; several-flowered, to 3.5 mm long; glumes to 1.5 mm long, 5-7-nerved, with a green keel, the lateral nerves faint, the tip spreading. Flowering between September to February. Fruits are few brown ovoid fruit-head in clusters at the end of stems. Seeds are shiny brown globular seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.5 mm wide with a rectangular course reticulate surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and April. Collect fruits by picking off the mature heads; those turning brown and come-off easily. 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. Be careful, as the seeds are very small. Seeds are black 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.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSB | 6,900 (1.27 g) | 50 | 21-Oct-2007 | RJB74961 Southern Lofty | 100% | ||
| BGA | 16,000 (1.87 g) | 50 | 1-Nov-2007 | RJB75135 Southern Lofty | 19-Sep-2008 | 100% | -18°C |
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.