''Distichlis distichophylla'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

commonly known as Australian salt-grass, emu grass or pineapple grass. It is a

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

that grows to about 30 cm in height, with creeping

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s up to 1 m long. It is coarse and prickly, growing in damp, saline areas such as the fringes of

saltmarshes A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

. It often forms mats where water is abundant. Its appearance in places from which it had been absent can be an indication of rising

soil salinity Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

References

Chloridoideae Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of New South Wales Flora of Tasmania Flora of South Australia Flora of Western Australia Halophytes Salt marsh plants Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière Plants described in 1805 {{Chloridoideae-stub