Machaerina gunnii

Primary tabs

Machaerina gunnii

Description

Leaves 1-2 to the stem, basal, similar to the stems, terete, smooth, pungent, 1-2 mm thick. Stamens 3, c. 3 mm long, with distinct, c. ½ mm. long appendage of the connective (fixing mechanism, see p. 706). Panicle erect, oblong, narrow, loose to rather dense, 5-10(-25)cm long.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: New Guinea present, Australasia: Tasmania (Tasmania present), NE. New Guinea present, Papua present, S. Queensland present
Australia (Tasmania to S. Queensland), in Malesia: New Guinea (NE. New Guinea, Papua).

Uses

According to Mrs. CLEMENS the stems are used by native women for making skirtlets.

Notes

Cladium brevipaniculatum (KÜK.) KÜK. is said to differ from 'C. tenax' (wrongly accepted by KÜKENTHAL as the correct name for C. gunnii) by the more robust, 1-leaved stems, the shorter and narrower panicle, and the appressed uppermost glume. In the New Guinea collections I have seen the stems are very variable in width and 1-2-leaved; the uppermost glume is at first erect, finally spreading.

Citation

BOECK. 1874 – In: Linnaea: 235
S. T. BLAKE 1943 – In: Trans. R. Soc. S. Austr.: 59
HOOK.ƒ. 1943: p. 167. – In: Black, Fl. S. Austr., ed. 2, 1: f. 225
Benth. 1878 – In: Fl. Austr.: 407