Spinifex longifolius

Spinifex longifolius, commonly known as beach spinifex, is a perennial grass that grows in sandy regions along the seacoast. It also lives in most deserts around Australia.

Beach spinifex
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus: Spinifex
Species:
S. longifolius
Binomial name
Spinifex longifolius
Synonyms[1]
  • Spinifex littoreus var. longifolius (R.Br.) Backer
  • Spinifex fragilis R.Br.
Spinifex longifolius in the Grant Marine Park in Cottesloe, Western Australia.

Description

It grows as a tussock from 30 centimetres to a metre high, and up to two metres wide. It has long flat leaves, and green or brown flowers.[2]

It is similar in appearance to S. littoreus, but that species has hard, sharp leaves capable of drawing blood, whereas the leaves of S. longifolius are a good deal softer.[3]

Taxonomy

It was first published by Robert Brown in his 1810 Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

It occurs on coastal dunes of white sand, in Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand.[1][6] In Australia, it occurs from Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, north and east to the western edge of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.[7]

Aboriginal uses

The Noongar people of southwest Western Australia used the juice from the young tips of the plant to drip into eyes as a relief for conjunctivitis.[8]

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. "Spinifex longifolius R.Br". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  3. Pike, G. D. & Leach, G. J. (1997). Handbook of the vascular plants of Ashmore and Cartier Islands. Canberra: Parks Australia.
  4. "Spinifex longifolius R.Br". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. Brown, Robert (1810), Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802–1805, London: R. Taylor et socii, p. 198, doi:10.5962/BHL.TITLE.3678, Wikidata Q7247677
  6. Clayton, W.D.; Vorontsova, M.S.; Harman, K.T.; Williamson, H. "Spinifex longifolius". GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  7. CANB specimens of Spinifex longifolius in Australasia
  8. Hansen, V.; Horsefall, J. (2016). Noongar Bush Medicine Medicinal plants of the south-west of Western Australia. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia. p. 20. ISBN 9781742589060.

Further reading
  • Webster, R. D. (1987). The Australian Paniceae (Poaceae). Berlin: J. Cramer.
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