Aquatic Plants
Wetland Planting Zone |
Shallow Marsh/Deep Marsh |
Approved Format |
600cc |
Family |
Cyperaceae |
Form |
Baumea articulata has tall erect perennial tussock with stout rhizome |
Foliage |
Stout hollow leaves are basal, similar to the flowering stem and as long or longer, to 10mm wide. Leaf sheath is straw-coloured |
Flowers |
Loose drooping flowerhead 15-45cm x 10cm wide of many 2-5-flowered spikelets. Lowest floral bract shorter than flowerhead. Red-brown flower colour |
Fruit |
Nut wrinkled, egg-shaped, pale to dark red-brown |
Habitat |
Wet soils in swamps or in lagoons or slow-moving watercourses |
Distinctive Features |
Stiff, erect, nodeless flowering stems are ridged, round in cross section 4-10mm wide with partitions across the stem |
Similar Species |
Superficially similar to Eleocharis sphacelata and Schoenoplectus tabermaemontani, distinctive internal bands in the leaves |
Comments |
Excellent for stabilising wet slopes and providing habitat for small birds and frogs |
