''Fimbristylis velata'' is a species of

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

native to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand and Australia, where it is found in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Victoria, and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Taxonomy and naming

''F. velata'' was first described in 1810 by Robert Brown from a specimen he found at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Australian and New Zealand authorities accept it as a species, though

Plants of the World online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

considers it to be a synonym of ''Fimbristylis squarrosa'' var. ''esquarrosa'' . The specific epithet, ''velata'', is a Latin participle, ''velatus'', ''-a'', ''-um'', which describes some part of the plant as being "covered" or "partially concealed from view".

Description

''Fimbristylis velata'' is a small densely tufted annual. Its leaves are shorter than its culms. There is no ligule. The compound inflorescence has many solitary spikelets on branches which are up to 5 cm long. The flowers have one stamen with an anther 2 -3 mm long. The style is bifid, with a sparse fringe of hairs above, while at the base there is a whorl of long whitish hairs closely pressed to the nut and partially covering it. The nut is biconvex, straw-coloured and shining. It flowers from spring to summer and typically grows in moist places.

References

External links

''Fimbristylis velata'' occurrence data
from

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgamat ...

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q51041876, from2=Q25119058 velata Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)