Triodia | |
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Triodia pungens (green) and Triodia basedowii (blue-grey) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Chloridoideae |
Tribe: | Cynodonteae |
Subtribe: | Triodiinae |
Genus: | Triodia R.Br. (1810) |
Synonyms [1] [2] | |
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Triodia is a large genus of hummock grass endemic to Australia. The species of this genus are known by the common name spinifex, although they are not a part of the coastal genus Spinifex . [1] Many soft-leaved Triodia species were formerly included in the genus Plectrachne. [3] Triodia is known as tjanpi (grass) in central Australia, [4] [5] and have several traditional uses amongst the Aboriginal Australian peoples of the region.
A multiaccess key (SpiKey) is available as a free application for identifying the Triodia of the Pilbara (28 species and one hybrid). [6]
Triodia species are perennial Australian hummock grasses that grow in arid regions. Their leaves (30–40 centimetres long) are subulate (awl-shaped, with a tapering point). The leaf tips, which are high in silica, can break off in the skin, leading to infections.[ citation needed ]
Spinifex has had many traditional uses for Aboriginal Australians. Several species were (and are) used extensively as materials for basket weaving. [7] The seeds were collected and ground to make seedcakes. Spinifex resin was an important adhesive used in spear-making. Burning spinifex produces a strong black smoke, and smoke signals made in this way were an effective means of communication with families and groups over substantial distances.
The species Triodia wiseana is used for building shelters; bunched together it is used for trapping fish against creek beds. It is called baru in the languages of the Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma people; the English term is hard spinifex. [8]
Triodia nanofibres have been used to reinforce rubber and latex products. As of 2023, a Brisbane-based company has raised funds to develop medical gels from spinifex resin. [9]
Species currently include: [10] [11]
Numerous species once considered members of Triodia have been reassigned to other genera, including: Austrofestuca, Chascolytrum, Danthonia, Dasyochloa, Deschampsia, Diplachne, Disakisperma, Erioneuron, Gouinia, Graphephorum, Leptocarydion, Notochloe, Plinthanthesis, Poa, Puccinellia, Rytidosperma, Scolochloa, Spartina, Torreyochloa, Trichoneura, Tridens, Triplasis, Tripogon, and Vaseyochloa . [13]
Eriocaulon is a genus of about 400 species commonly known as pipeworts, of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Eriocaulaceae.
Lechenaultia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Goodeniaceae, the species native to Australia with one species also occurring in New Guinea. Plants in the genus Lechenaultia are glabrous shrubs or herbs with needle-shaped leaves, more or less sessile flowers with five sepals and five blue, white, or yellow and red petals in two unequal lobes, the fruit an elongated capsule.
Gastrolobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. There are over 100 species in this genus, and all but two are native to the south west region of Western Australia.
Spinifex is a genus of perennial coastal plants in the grass family.
Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include the systematics of the plant families Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae and Violaceae, and the conservation ecology of grassy woodland ecosystems. He also works in biodiversity informatics, developing and teaching the development of interactive multi-access keys, and has been involved in the design of software for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Western pebble-mound mouse or Ngadji is a burrowing and mound building rodent in the family Muridae. They occur in the Pilbara, a remote region in the northwest of Australia.
Western Australia occupies nearly one third of the Australian continent. Due to the size and the isolation of the state, considerable emphasis has been made of these features; it is the second largest administrative territory in the world, after Yakutia in Russia, despite the fact that Australia is only the sixth largest country in the world by area, and no other regional administrative jurisdiction in the world occupies such a high percentage of a continental land mass. It is also the only first level administrative subdivision to occupy the entire continental coastline in one cardinal direction.
Yakirra is a genus of Burmese and Australian plants in the grass family.
Eriachne is a genus of plants in the grass family. Most of the species are found only in Australia, with the ranges of a few extending northward into New Guinea, parts of Asia, and Micronesia.
Ectrosia is a genus of Asian, Australian, and Pacific Island plants in the grass family.
Urochloa is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands. Common names include signalgrass.
Whiteochloa is a genus of plants in the grass family.
Iseilema, commonly known in Australia as Flinders grass, is a genus of Asian and Australian plants in the grass family.
Micraira is the only genus of tribe Micraireae in the grass family, native to Australia.
Triodia stipoides is a species of grass native to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is a perennial which grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropics.
Triodia scariosa, is more commonly known as porcupine grass or spinifex, and belongs to the endemic Australian grass genus Triodia. The species is perennial and evergreen and individuals grow in mounds, called hummocks, that reach up to ~1m in height. The leaves are ~30 cm long, 1mm in diameter, needlepointed and rigid, and its inflorescence is a narrow, loose panicle that forms a flowering stalk up to ~2m in height. The name is derived from Latin; Triodia refers to the three-toothed lobes of the lemma, and scariosa is in reference to the thin, dry glume. The species is common to Mallee (MVG14) and Hummock grassland (MVG20) communities, in arid and semi-arid regions of Australia.
Triodia basedowii, commonly known as lobed spinifex, is a species of tussock-forming grass-like plant found in Australia.
Triodia scintillans, the sparkling spinifex, or salt and vinegar chips spinifex is a species of grass in the genus Triodia. It tastes like salt and vinegar potato chips.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)