''Triodia scintillans'', the sparkling spinifex, or salt and vinegar chips spinifex is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of grass in the genus ''

Triodia Triodia may refer to: * ''Triodia'' (moth), a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae * ''Triodia'' (plant), a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae {{Genus disambiguation ...

''. It tastes like

salt and vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

Names

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''scintillans'' was chosen with help from Alex George and derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word which means "to sparkle". This refers to the distinct sparkly droplets on young leaves which is especially apparent in direct sun. The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

"sparkling spinifex" is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of that Latin binomial. Although this plant is not in the genus '' Spinifex'', members of the genus ''Triodia'' are commonly called "spinifex". '' T. vanleeuwenii'' is also called sparking spinifex. ''Triodia scintillans'' is referred to as salt and vinegar chips spinifex because the little leaf droplets have a similar taste to the chips. The plant was not tasted intentionally, and eating it is not recommended. The species was informally called "''Triodia'' sp. Warrawagine" initially, referencing a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

in the region.

Taxonomy

''Triodia scintillans'' is in the ''T. basedowii'' species complex along with eight other species, '' T. basedowii'', '' T. birriliburu'', '' T. chichesterensis'', '' T. glabra'', '' T. lanigera'', '' T. mallota'', '' T. nana'', and ''T. vanleeuwenii''. Within the complex, it is in an informal

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

called the eastern group, along with ''T. basedowii'', ''T. birriliburu'', ''T. nana'', and ''T. vanleeuwenii''. Analysis of

internal transcribed spacer Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is the spacer DNA situated between the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and large-subunit rRNA genes in the chromosome or the corresponding transcribed region in the polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript. ...

and

external transcribed spacer External transcribed spacer (ETS) refers to a piece of non-functional RNA, closely related to the internal transcribed spacer, which is situated outside structural ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) on a common precursor transcript. ETS sequences characterist ...

sequences show a close relative of ''T. scintillans'' is ''T. vanleeuwenii'', which shares the leaf droplets. The two species possibly hybridize where the ranges overlap near

Roy Hill Station Roy Hill Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station, located about south of the Roy Hill mine. Roy Hill Station was an important cattle station in the north-west, being on the Meekatharra- Nullagine Road and stock route. The station area ...

. A more recent study on

chloroplast DNA Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), also known as plastid DNA (ptDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genome s ...

indicated that the closest relative of ''T. scinitillans'' is ''T. basedowii'' instead of ''T. vanleeuwenii''.

Distribution

''Triodia scintillans'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and found north of the

Fortescue River The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state. Course The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman, Western Austr ...

valley in the Mackay subregion of the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

and the

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

and Fortescue subregions of the

Pilbara shrublands The Pilbara shrublands is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in Western Australia. It is coterminous with the Pilbara IBRA region. For other definitions and uses of "Pilbara region" see Pilbara. Geography The Pilbara shrublands is bounded ...

. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

was collected by M. D. Barrett in Western Australia on Woodie Woodie Road, 19 kilometers south of the turn-off to Telfer. The plant grows on slopes and

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

s, on primarily gravelly soils. The

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

for the species has been described as "least concern" and "not threatened".

Description

Individual plants grow in 20–50 cm tall

hummock In geology, a hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground.Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). "hummock." Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241. They are typically less than in height and ten ...

s. The

leaf sheath A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s are

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

with scintillating droplets, which tend to become crystalline when dried. The purpose of the droplets is unknown, but possibly to deter herbivores. The sheath opening is villous or woolly with 1.5–2.5 mm

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s (hairs) that sometimes wear off on older leaves. Plants have

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...

s that are 0.5–1 mm long. The leaf blades are short for the genus, typically 40–100 mm long. They are glabrous or rarely with a few trichomes spreading onto the 1–3 mm long pseudopetiole. Flowers appear on 0.7–1 m tall culms in February, March, and July–August after heavy rainfall. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are highly-branched and 40–98 mm long

racemose A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the shoo ...

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

with seven to nineteen

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

s. The

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

are 1–18 mm long. Spikelets are 3.5–8 mm by 7–13 mm with four to ten

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

s. The florets are restricted by the

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flow ...

s for a portion of the length. The lower glume is 2.5–4 by 4–7.8 mm and slightly

scabrous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

with an

acuminate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

to acute

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

. The lowest lemma is 5–9 mm long with three deep lobes. The palea ~3 by ~1 mm, with few to no trichomes underneath. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

s (main ridge) of the palea are

puberulent Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

. The keel has a thickened surface, the body less so, with the thickness becoming weaker towards the somewhat

truncate In mathematics and computer science, truncation is limiting the number of digits right of the decimal point. Truncation and floor function Truncation of positive real numbers can be done using the floor function. Given a number x \in \mathbb ...

and sometimes

ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagellum, eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a ...

apex. The rhachilla segment is 0.5–1 mm long and the

lodicule A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikel ...

s are 0.2–0.5 mm long. The

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s in the flower are 2.2–3.5 mm long. The

caryopsis In botany, a caryopsis () is a type of simple fruit—one that is monocarpellate (formed from a single carpel) and indehiscent (not opening at maturity) and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused with the thin s ...

(seed) is unseen. ''Triodia scintillans'' is

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

. The

plastome Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), also known as plastid DNA (ptDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genom ...

is 135,301 bp, and its

GC-content In molecular biology and genetics, GC-content (or guanine-cytosine content) is the percentage of nitrogenous bases in a DNA or RNA molecule that are either guanine (G) or cytosine (C). This measure indicates the proportion of G and C bases out of ...

is 38.4%.

Ecology

Nothing is known to eat the grass, and cows refuse to graze on it.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65950952 scintillans Bunchgrasses of Australasia Endemic flora of Australia Poales of Australia Taxa named by Matthew David Barrett Plants described in 2017