Spinifex longifolius
Beach spinifex | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Spinifex |
Species: | S. longifolius
|
Binomial name | |
Spinifex longifolius | |
Synonyms[1] | |
|
Spinifex longifolius, commonly known as beach spinifex, is a perennial grass that grows in sandy regions along the seacoast. It also lives in most deserts around Australia.
Description[edit]
It grows as a tussock from 30 centimetres to a metre high, and up to two metres wide. It has long flat leaves, and green or brown flowers.[2]
It is similar in appearance to S. littoreus, but that species has hard, sharp leaves capable of drawing blood, whereas the leaves of S. longifolius are a good deal softer.[3]
Taxonomy[edit]
It was first published by Robert Brown in his 1810 Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.[4][5]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
It occurs on coastal dunes of white sand, in Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand.[1][6] In Australia, it occurs from Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, north and east to the western edge of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.[7]
Aboriginal uses[edit]
The Noongar people of southwest Western Australia used the juice from the young tips of the plant to drip into eyes as a relief for conjunctivitis.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ "Spinifex longifolius R.Br". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ Pike, G. D. & Leach, G. J. (1997). Handbook of the vascular plants of Ashmore and Cartier Islands. Canberra: Parks Australia.
- ^ "Spinifex longifolius R.Br". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Cite_Q at line 13: attempt to index a nil value.
- ^ Clayton, W.D.; Vorontsova, M.S.; Harman, K.T.; Williamson, H. "Spinifex longifolius". GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ CANB specimens of Spinifex longifolius in Australasia
- ^ Hansen, V.; Horsefall, J. (2016). Noongar Bush Medicine Medicinal plants of the south-west of Western Australia. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia. p. 20. ISBN 9781742589060.
Further reading[edit]
- Webster, R. D. (1987). The Australian Paniceae (Poaceae). Berlin: J. Cramer.
External links[edit]
- GBIF Occurrence data for Spinifex longifoliusError: "Q7577555" is not a valid Wikidata entity ID.
- Pages with script errors
- FloraBase ID not in Wikidata
- Articles with short description
- Short description with empty Wikidata description
- Articles with 'species' microformats
- Taxonbars desynced from Wikidata
- Taxonbar pages requiring a Wikidata item
- Taxonbars with invalid from parameters
- Taxonbars without secondary Wikidata taxon IDs
- Panicoideae
- Bunchgrasses of Asia
- Bunchgrasses of Australasia
- Flora of Thailand
- Flora of Malesia
- Flora of New Guinea
- Flora of the Northern Territory
- Flora of Queensland
- Flora of South Australia
- Angiosperms of Western Australia
- Plants described in 1810
- Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)