Diplachne fusca subsp. fusca
Brown Beetle-grassTufted perennial, culms erect, to 1 m high, sometimes branched near base. Leaves glabrous; blade scabrous, flat or slightly inrolled when fresh, becoming inrolled on drying, to 30 cm long and 7 mm wide; ligule deeply lacerated, to c. 7 mm long. Panicle 10–25 cm long, the branches remaining erect or slightly spreading. Spikelets 7–15-flowered, 9–20 mm long, shortly pedicellate, dull pale green, greyish or purplish; glumes ovate, often shallowly bilobed, the lower 2.5–4 mm long, the upper 3–5 mm long; lemma oblong-ovate, 2.5–5 mm long, almost flat, shallowly bilobed at apex with the lobes tapered and often minutely toothed, the midnerve produced as a mucro to c. 0.5 mm long between the lobes, lateral nerves prominent, margins and a narrow line either side of the midnerve densely white silky-hairy toward the base. Flowers most of year.
MuM, Wim, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP. Occurs in all mainland States and Territories. Confined in Victoria to floodplains and billabongs of the Murray River and the lower reaches of its major tributaries. Frequently grows in shallow water.
Two collections from the Melbourne metropolitan area (near Sunshine) are probably a result of inadvertent transport of seed with stock from northern Victoria or interstate.
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning