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''Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as buttongrass, is a species of tussock-forming sedge from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania.
It was originally described as ''Chaetospora sphaerocephala'' by Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 work ''
In New South Wales it is found from
Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...
'', before being given its current binomial name in 1858 by Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...
.
''G. sphaerocephalus'' is a perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...
sedge species which forms a clump or tussock. The leaf blades reach in length, and in width. The round flowerheads arise out of the tussock, on culms which are up to high. They are around in diameter and made up of flattened spikelets long. Its root system is a mass of fleshy carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may o ...
-rich rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ...
s, which are edible.
In New South Wales it is found from Gibraltar Range
The Gibraltar Range is a mountain range in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The range extends off the Great Dividing Range at Bald Nob about east northeast of and trends generally east northeast and north north ...
(and Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of ''Acacia'':
* ''Acacia binervia
''Acacia binervia'', commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a t ...
on the coast) south to Robertson
Robertson may refer to:
People
* Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name)
* Robertson (given name)
* Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan
* Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837)
Place ...
. In Victoria the plant is known from at least two locations, one to the east of Melbourne in the Beenak State Forest, and the other location being on the eastern side of the Grampians National Park in western Victoria.
It is much more abundant and widespread in Tasmania, where it is common in the western part of the state.
''G. sphaerocephalus'' grows in damp nutrient-poor soils, and in Tasmania forms a low grassland or moor in which it is the dominant shrub. Associated primitive plants include club moss
Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...
es such as ''Lycopodiella lateralis
''Lateristachys lateralis'', synonym ''Lycopodiella lateralis'', commonly known as slender club moss, is a species of club moss
Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component ...
'', and ''Selaginella uliginosa
''Selaginella uliginosa'' is a small perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-li ...
'' and the ferns '' Gleichenia dicarpa'' and '' G. alpina''. Despite the wet climate, buttongrass is relatively flammable and the ecological community is adapted to regular burning. The leaves of ''G. sphaerocephalus'' have the lowest recorded phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...
content of any plant species. The soil it grows in is a peat which is acidic, with a pH of 3.5 to 4.5.
Buttongrass may form a symbiotic relationship with a species of burrowing crayfish '' Parastacoides tasmanicus'', which aerates the soil with its burrows and in turn feeds on the rhizomes.
It is also a food item of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot
The orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster'') is a small parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that migrate. It was described by John Latham in 1790. A small parrot around long, it exhibits sex ...
, which breeds in buttongrass moorlands of southwestern Tasmania over the summer.
References
Flora of Tasmania Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) {{Cyperaceae-stub