| Bare twig-rush | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Machaerina |
| Species: | M. juncea |
| Binomial name | |
| Machaerina juncea (R.Br.) T.Koyama | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Machaerina juncea, commonly known as bare twig-rush or tussock swamp twig rush, is a sedge in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. [2]
The grass-like sedge is rhizomatous and perennial. It typically grows to a height of 0.2 to 1.2 metres (0.7 to 3.9 ft) and colonises easily. [3] The woody and shortly creeping rhizome has a diameter of 3 to 10 millimetres (0.118 to 0.394 in) and is covered in light brown papery, loose, imbricate bracts. The terete, rigid, erect, smoth, glaucous culms arise as crowded tufts along rhizome and have one to two distant nodes. The leaves are light brown or reddish sheathing bracts. [4] It blooms between October and March producing brown flowers. [3] Each stiff, erect, spike-like and sparingly branched inflorescence has a length of 25 to 100 mm (1.0 to 3.9 in) and has a much shorter sheathing bract underneath. The red-brown coloured spikelets have a length of 4 to 5 mm (0.157 to 0.197 in) and contain one or two flowers. The oblong to ovoid shaped nut that forms later has a length of 2.5 to 3 mm (0.098 to 0.118 in) and is dark brown to black and orange near the base. [4]
The species was first formally described by the botanist Tetsuo Koyama in 1956 as part of the work Taxonomic Study of Cyperaceae as published in Botanical Magazine (Tokyo). [5] Many synonyms are known including; Baumea juncea, Chapelliera juncea, Cladium junceum, Cladium ouveanum, Gahnia juncea, Lepidosperma colensoi, Mariscus junceus and Mariscus ouveanus.
It is found in New Zealand, commonly found on the North Island and less frequently on the South Island. It is found on Coastal areas to lower montane in and around swamps, salt marshes, lake margins and river estuaries. [4]
It is found in coastal areas in all the states of Australia. In Western Australia it is found along coastal areas in the Mid West, Wheatbelt, Peel, South West, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance where it grows in water-logged sandy soils. [3]
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus Carex with over 2,000 species.
Cladium is a genus of large sedges, with a nearly worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. These are plants characterized by long, narrow (grass-like) leaves having sharp, often serrated (sawtooth-like) margins, and flowering stems 1–3 m tall bearing a much-branched inflorescence. Like many plants found in wet habitats, it has deeply buried rhizomes that can produce tall shoots with dense canopies.
Cyperus polystachyos, also known as Pycreus polystachyos and commonly known as bunchy sedge, many-spiked sedge, or Texas sedge, is a herbaceous species in the family Cyperaceae, widespread in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, sometimes extending its range into temperate regions. In the United States, it has been reported from a region from Texas to Maine.
Baumea is a genus of the sedge family, which includes around 30 species native to Madagascar and the Pacific Islands, with 15 species in Australia. All are perennial rhizomatous herbs, with leaves and stems very similar in appearance. The inflorescence is terminal, with the flowers tightly clustered or loosely arranged. The fruits are small nuts.
Cladium mariscus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names swamp sawgrass, great fen-sedge, saw-sedge or sawtooth sedge. Previously it was known as elk sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia where it grows in base-rich boggy areas and lakesides. It can be up to 2.5 metres tall, and has leaves with hard serrated edges. In the past, it was an important material to build thatched roofs; harvesting it was an arduous task due to its sharp edges that can cause deep lacerations.
Machaerina (twigrush) is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family. Its species occur in tropical America, the West Indies, Malesia, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the Greek machaira, alluding to the shape of the leaves in the type species – Machaerina restioides.
Baumea acuta, commonly known as pale twig-rush, is a flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to southern parts of Australia.
Baumea arthrophylla is a flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae that is native to Western Australia.
Baumea articulata, commonly known as jointed rush, is a sedge in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to Western Australia. The grass-like plant is rhizomatous and perennial, it typically grows to a height of 1 to 2.6 metres. It blooms between September and December producing red-brown flowers on pendulous inflorescences.
Baumea preissii is a flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae, which is native to Western Australia.
Machaerina rubiginosa, commonly known as soft twig rush, flat leaf twig rush or common twig rush, is a flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to Asia and the Pacific.
Baumea vaginalis, commonly known as sheath twig rush, is a flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to Western Australia.
Carex pumila, commonly known as strand sedge or spreading sedge, is a species of sedge of the family Cyperaceae.
Chorizandra cymbaria, commonly known as heron bristle rush or heron bristle sedge, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to Australia.
Cyperus alterniflorus, commonly known as umbrella flat-sedge, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to Australia.
Cyperus congestus, commonly known as dense flat-sedge or clustered flat-sedge, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to southern Africa mostly in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia.
Eleocharis acuta, commonly known as common spikerush or small spikerush, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to Australia.
Eleocharis ochrostachys, commonly known as spike rush, is a sedge of the family Cyperaceae that is native to Australia and Asia.
Carpha alpina, commonly known as small flower-rush, is a tufted perennial sedge from the family Cyperaceae. It is found primarily in south-east Australia and both islands of New Zealand, but also in Papua New Guinea.