Seed heads. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT

Seeds on stems. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flowering plant. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Rounded plant. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Circles. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Porcupine Grass

Family

Poaceae

Notes

Perennial grass to 1m tall.  Leaves mostly at the base of the plant, with a hairless sheath at the base.  Ligule a fringe of hairs.  Leaves 4-27cm long, to 2mm wide, folded together lengthwise, hairless, the tip very sharply pointed.  Flower heads brown, maturing staw-coloured.  Spikelets 5-23mm long.  Mature seed groups cylindrical to somewhat spreading.  Seeds with 0 bristles.

Description and photo (pages 149-50) and line drawings of seeds (page 150 Fig. 34b) (as Triodia irritans var. laxispicata) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Triodia~scariosa

ausgrass2 description, photo, and line drawings:  http://ausgrass2.myspecies.info/content/triodia-scariosa