Scientific Name: Gahnia aspera

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  • Pronunciation:
    GAR-nee-ah ass-PURR-ah
  • Common Name:
    Cut Sedge, Saw Sedge
  • Derivation:
    Gahnia: Dr. Henry Gahn, Swedish botanist, friend of Linnaeus aspera: L. asper - rough, uneven
  • Type:
    Sedge. Woody rhizomes , stolons absent.
  • Family:
    CYPERACEAE
  • Flowers:
    Spikes to 25 cm, not rising above leaves
  • Fruit:
    Nut - orange, red, red-brown seeds
  • Vegetation Type:
    Wet Eucalypt Forest,
  • Species List:
    Arthur Harrold NR, Bush food, Weyba Nature Refuge, Eumarella Rd., Wooroi Day Use Area Tracks, SRR NNP, Noosa High School, NNP service road, SRR, Cooroibah26.4.09, Wooroi Palm Grove, Old Tewantin, Fraser Island, Cooroibah Conservation Park, Cooroibah Bushland Reserve, Stratford Park, Girraween, Noosa Banks, Dandaloo, Heritage Park
Cultural Notes

TAKE CARE! Some information about bush foods and medicines may be anecdotal. Correct identification and preparation is essential:

* The seeds are pounded to produce flour.

* The leaf bases are edible.

Identification Notes

Small Stem solid 7-10 fascicles Fascicle: cluster of flowers, leaves, etc. arising from about the same point.||Leaves tough, flat with razor sharp edges.||**Identifying features - Gahnia sp** Culms: solid or hollow, noded.|Inflorescence: Panicle with several clusters of partial panicles at each node. |Involucral bracts: Leafy, enclosing each flower cluster.|Leaves: Long, linear, inrolled.||

Associated Fauna

Butterfly host plant: Hesperilla donnysaicaria, Spotted skipper, Malindeva skipper, Northern ringlet, Ornata skipper.||

Landscaping Notes

Difficult to propogate||Successfully propagated by Coolum Community Native Nursery.||Successfully propagated by Barung Landcare||