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Chaetanthus tenellus (Nees) B.G.Briggs & L.A.S.Johnson

Reference
Telopea 8:24 (1998)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Rhizomatous, perennial, herb (rush-like), 0.1-0.7 m high. Fl. brown/red, Sep to Nov. White, yellow or grey peaty sand. Swamps, seasonally wet flats.

Amanda Spooner, Descriptive Catalogue, 29 August 1997
Image

Scientific Description

Rhizomes tufted, hairy. Basal sheath hairy, glossy, striate. Culms terete, internal structure (at base of culm) hollow, glabrous, not striate, not marbled, not fasciculate. Culm 140-440 mm long. Sheaths (including blade) appressed throughout, dull, striate, glabrous, margins translucent. Apex elongated, glabrous. Dioecious (with separate male and female plants). Male and female inflorescences distinctly dissimilar, posture (male inflorescences only) Distinctly drooping, Culms unbranched below the inflorescence. Male spikelet 6-12 mm long. Subtending bract glabrous, Outer bract 5-7 mm long, margins thin and translucent, Apex acute. Perianth glabrous. 2-5.5 mm long. Inner bract glabrous, margins thin and translucent, Apex acuminate to attenuate. Inner bract 4.3 mm long. Filament 0-0.4 mm long. Anther 1-1.2 mm long. Female spikelet 5-8 mm long. Subtending bract glabrous, margins thin and translucent, Apex acute. Outer bract 4.6-9 mm long. Perianth glabrous. 4-6 mm long. Inner bracts 4.8-5 mm long, glabrous, margins thin and translucent, Apex acute. Style one, arising centrally from the ovary apex. 3.5-8.5 mm long. Fruit indehiscent (nut). Flowering Time September, October or November. Botanical Province South-West, IBRA Bioregions Swan Coastal Plain, Jarrah Forest, Warren or Esperance.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 1 September 2017

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain, Warren.
IBRA Subregions
Fitzgerald, Northern Jarrah Forest, Perth, Southern Jarrah Forest, Warren.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Albany, Armadale, Augusta Margaret River, Busselton, Cranbrook, Denmark, Gnowangerup, Jerramungup, Manjimup, Plantagenet.