''Lepidosperma canescens'' (common name hoary rapier-sedge) is a sedge of the family

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

that is native to south-east

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. There are no synonyms.

Description

''Lepidosperma canescens'' is a clump-forming perennial with short rhizomes. It has terete, rigid, erect, and smooth culms which are 25–100 cm by 0.8–2.0 mm. The leaf-blades are similar to the culms but usually shorter and from 0.7–2 mm in diameter. The sheaths are yellow-brown to dark grey-brown, and are sometimes a dark reddish near the apex. They are not sticky. The inflorescences are fan-shaped to oblong. They are loose, erect, and 3–8 cm by about 2 cm. The involucral bract is shorter than the inflorescence. The spikelets are 5–7 mm long. The nut is obovoid (2–3 mm by 1.0–1.3 mm), and brown, smooth, and shining.

Uses

This sedge was used by Aborigines for weaving artefacts, and is used by the aboriginal artist,

Yvonne Koolmatrie Yvonne Koolmatrie (born 1944) is an Australian artist and weaver of the Ngarrindjeri people, working in South Australia. Early life Koolmatrie was born in Wudinna, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Her father was a Kokatha man, Joseph Roberts ...

, for her weaving.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15549092

External links

''Lepidosperma canescens'' occurrence data
from

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

''Lepidosperma canescens'' Seeds of South Australia
(for images)
''Lepidosperma canescens'' (Google image search)
Plants described in 1874 Flora of South Australia canescens Taxa named by Johann Otto Boeckeler Flora of Victoria (state)