Botanical art
Prior names
Scirpus productus
Common names
Nutty Club-sedge
Nutty Club-rush
Etymology
Isolepis, from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal and 'lepis', meaning scale, referring to the glumes. Producta, from the Latin 'productus', meaning lengthened or elongated, alluding to the shape of the seeds.
Distribution and status
From Kangaroo Island and the lower South-east in South Australia, floating in shallow water. Also found in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
NRM regions: Kangaroo Island, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Mat-forming annual or short-lived perennial sedge. Stems filiform, weak, floating; often many-noded, (similar to I. fluitans but sometimes more slender and always strongly tinged with purple, particularly on the leaf sheaths and at the margins of the glumes). Leaves very slender. Spikelet solitary, terminal on long peduncles rising from the tufts of leaves; ovoid, to 5 mm long,;glumes 6-10, nearly all containing bisexual flowers, the lowest glume always produced into a leafy point as long as or longer than the spikelet. Flowering between October and March. Isolepis producta is diagnosed by the lowest glume being equal in length to and partially covering the spikelet. Fruits are singular brown fruit-head at the end of the stems. Seeds are pale-yellow narrow ovoid-triangular seed to 1.6 mm long and 0.9 mm wide, with a fine reticulate surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and April. Collect fruits by picking off the mature heads; those turning brown and that 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 pale yellow 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 | 11,700 (3.16 g) | 10 | 23-Nov-2007 | RJB75862 South Eastern | 100% |