Tricostularia pauciflora

Cyperaceae

Needle Bog-sedge,

Needle Bog-rush

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plant: Tricostularia pauciflora Mt Billy CP plant habit

plant: Tricostularia pauciflora Mt Billy CP plant habitat

fruit: Tricostularia pauciflora seedhead Mt Billy CP 1

fruit: Tricostularia pauciflora Mt Billy CP fruit 1

seed: Tricostularia pauciflora TST885 Seed

seed: Tricostularia pauciflora TST885 Seeds

seed: Tricostularia pauciflora DJD1477 seeds excised from fruits

dissected seed: Tricostularia pauciflora TST885 longitudinal cut

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

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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Prior names

Lepidosperma pauciflorum

Common names

Needle Bog-sedge

Needle Bog-rush

Etymology

Tricostularia from the Latin 'tres' meaning three and 'costula' meaning a little rib; referring to the 3-ribbed nut. Pauciflora from the Latin 'paucus' meaning few and 'florus' meaning flower; referring to the paucity of flowering.

Distribution and status

Found in the Fleurieu Peninsula and in the lower South-east in South Australia, growing in damp heath particularly in low lying swales and depressions with damp sands that would saturate in winter. Also found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in Tasmania. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, South Eastern
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small tufted perennial sedge to 50 cm high yellow-green, wiry terete stems emerging from a basal clump. Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 in a terminal cluster. Flowering between December and February. Fruits are short red-brown spike at terminal of stems. Seeds are three-sided dark brown ovoid seed to 2.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide with scattered hairs on the surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and March. Collect heads that are fat, turning brown and containing hard 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 two collections, the seed viability were average to high, ranging from 70% to 100%.

Seeds stored:

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Location	No. of seeds (weight grams)	Number of plants	Date collected	Collection number Collection location	Date stored	% Viability	Storage temperature
MSB	1,000 (0.91 g)	50+	24-Oct-2006	MJT20 South Eastern
BGA	480 (0.8 g)	10	18-Nov-2009	TST885 Southern Lofty	1-Jun-2010	70%	-18°C
BGA	210 (0.48 g)	6	11-Dec-2009	Comaum NFR South Eastern	1-Jun-2010	100%	-18°C
BGA	400 (0.35 g)	6	5-Nov-2014	DJD1477 Southern Lofty	2-May-2017	N/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:

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Date	Result	T0	T50	Pre-treatment \| Germination medium \| Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod
Jul-16	0%	NA	NA	seed coat nicked with scalpel, 500 mg/L gibberellic acid + 10% smoke water 72 h; 1% agar; 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)

Lucindale (NCP03)	Naracoorte Coastal Plain	Endangered (IUCN: EN B2ab(i,ii,iii)) (Probable Decline)
Fleurieu (KAN02)	Kanmantoo	Critically Endangered (IUCN: CR B2ab(i,ii,iii); D) (Probable Decline) [doesn't tolerate disturbance; highly localised; 1 location; spraying/slashing - threats]