Pithy Sword-sedge

Scientific Name:

Lepidosperma longitudinale

Pithy Sword-sedge plants
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

Australian native.

Plant Description:

Perennial with a short thick rhizome. Stems are rigid and erect, thickly biconvex (lens shaped in cross-section), 60-200 cm tall and 5-10 mm wide. Leaf blades are similar to stems but shorter and 3-10 mm wide. Leaf sheaths are yellow-brown to grey-brown at the base but often reddish at their apex.

Flower-heads are narrow-erect to spreading but dense, 15-50 cm long and 2-8 cm wide. The flower-head bract is shorter than the flower-head. Spikelets are numerous, 6-8 mm long, having 5-7 glumes. Fruit is a narrow-ellipsoid, pale to dark brown, shining and smooth nut, subtended by 6 whitish scales.

Habitat:

Growing in swamps and swampy heathland in southern Victoria. Indicative of fresh-water environments.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Western, Gippsland	S0	W2, W3, W4

Pithy Sword-sedge photos

Base of Pithy Sword-sedge
Photo: A J Brown

Leaves and stems of Pithy Sword-sedge
Photo: A J Brown

Flower-head of Pithy Sword-sedge
Photo: A J Brown

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