''Enneapogon nigricans'', known by the common names blackheads, bottle washers, pappus grass, purpletop grass, and niggerheads,''Enneapogon nigricans''.
USDA PLANTS. is a perennial Australian

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

. Distinctive lance-shaped seedheads appear in late spring and

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

. They form at the top of wiry stalks over 30 cm long. They start as an olive green colour, but dry to a light brown. The seed itself is much like a

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionall ...

in appearance, and is around 5mm across.

Germination Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, ...

is slow and unreliable and requires warm temperatures. Leaves are smooth and of a bright, light green. Plants like sunny positions and generally grow in sunny, open mallee forests. Plants form tall dense tussocks to a maximum of only 20 cm across.Plants of the Adelaide Plains and Hills.
Library of South Australia. Accessed 21 March 2011. They die down in late summer, before reshooting when the rains return.

References

Chloridoideae Bunchgrasses of Australasia Poales of Australia Endemic flora of Australia Plants described in 1810 {{Chloridoideae-stub