Australian sedge

Australian sedge is a perennial, dense, deep-rooted, tussock-forming sedge less than 90cm tall. It is unpalatable to livestock and may suppress the growth of native grasses or other short plants.

Description

• Leaves are long, drooping, blue-green, Y-shaped cross-section, sharp-edged and 3-5mm wide.
• Flowers are small on drooping inflorescences, less than 90cm long.
• Multiple flower and seed filaments originate from the same point on the stalk.
• Seeds are heavy, green/pale brown and ripen in late summer.
• Flowers and seedheads are different from other Carex sedges.
• Seeds are dispersed by gravity and animals. Vegetative spread from tillers and root fragments.
• Human-mediated dispersal through contamination of soil and machinery.
• Habitats include pasture, forest margins and gardens.

What you need to know

Forms dense swards in poor or overgrazed pasture. Unpalatable to livestock and reduces pasture productivity. May suppress the growth of native grasses or other short-stature plants in grassland or scrub ecosystems.

Management approach

This is a declared pest managed under the Canterbury Regional Management Plan 2018 – 2038 (PDF file, 10.6MB) within the exclusion programme.

Exclusion

Pests in the exclusion programme are not known to be established in Waitaha/Canterbury. If these pests were to become widely established, their impacts could be severe.

Therefore, early intervention by preventing their establishment is a cost-effective management approach.

The community should make us aware of any Australian sedge plants in Waitaha/Canterbury.

Rules

Any species declared a pest cannot be sold or be in a place where plants are being sold. Pest plants cannot be propagated, bred, multiplied, communicated, released, caused to be released, or otherwise spread.

Control

Do not attempt to undertake control of Australian sedge yourself. Report any sightings to us.