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 R.Br.
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]