Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cycnogeton multifructum
None
Juncaginaceae
Aquatic. In irrigation channels, lagoons, swamps and creeks. Canberra, Albury, and the Sydney area. Occasionally elsewhere.
Perennial herb, rhizomatous. Scape at the fruiting stage usually erect, about 0.29–0.76 m long, 3.5–15 mm in diameter, fruiting spike 0.12–1.1 m long, 10–19 mm in diameter. Leaves basal, arising in tufts from the rhizome, 43–133 cm long, 3.5–34 mm wide, strap-like, more or less elliptic in cross section, usually floating, seldom erect, thickened and spongy towards the base, with a sheath at the base. Flowers with 6 small 'petals' in two whorls, in a dense spike-like cluster, the rachis and individual flower stalks of the inflorescence usually distinctively pale to deep maroon, rarely green. Flowers October–June. Seed cases more or less globular, 3–5 mm long, 3–5 mm in diameter. Fruiting spikes with about 220–1000 seed cases, crowded, 14–27 on each centimetre of rachis length. Seeds never twisted, with prominent narrow keels on the top and sides.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cycnogeton~multifructum (accessed 9 January, 2021)
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