Hypolaena R.Br.

8 species endemic Aust.; all states and territories except NT

Hypolaena fastigiata R.Br.

Perennial dioecious herb 30–60 cm high. Culms slender, erect to ascending, flexuose, much branched, striate, greyish or hoary, sometimes glabrous. Leaf sheaths dark, often exceeding 10 mm long, appressed, without spreading tips. Rhizomes creeping. Flowers in terminal spikelets. Male spikelets narrow-ovate, 4–7 mm long, rich brown, pendulous on filiform pedicels, in a graceful panicle; female spikelets sessile, 1–3 together at the tips of the branches. Perianth segments 6, narrow in the male flowers; short broad and almost hyaline in the female. Stamens 3. Ovary 1-locular; stylar branches 3. Fruit a nut. Widespread. Damp sandy heath