Carex longebrachiata
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Australian sedge
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Robust, harsh, dense tussocks 30–90 cm high. New leaves grow from the inside of leaf-sheath. Leaves 3–5 mm wide, strongly keeled, Y-shaped in cross-section, appearing yellowish towards ends. Seeding stem a drooping panicle; with green to pale brown seeds hanging at the ends of long, thin, cotton-like filaments.
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished from almost all other species of Carex in NZ by its tillering and distinctive flower/seed head, but shares these characters with the Australian C. iynx. Flowers are grouped in catkin like spikes and hang at the end of long thin nodding stalks.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Grasslands
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Year naturalised
1906
Origin
Australia
Reason for introduction
Accidental
Tolerances
Tolerant to low soil fertility and drought.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Reproduces by tillers and seed. The plant seeds prolifically, with longevity of viable seed being between 3–5 years. The seed is dispersed by gravity and livestock. The seed is relatively heavy and most falls within 30 cm from the edge of the plant’s canopy.
Other information
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CARLON