Leptocarpus R.Br.

3 species endemic Aust.; all states and territories except Tas..

Leptocarpus tenax (Labill.) R.Br.

Perennial dioecious herb up to 1 m high. Culms slender, wiry, erect, straight, mostly unbranched, glabrous except the rhachis of the inflorescence. Rhizome creeping, glabrous. Leaf sheaths dark, closely appressed, 8 mm long or less, without spreading tips. Flowers in terminal spikelets. Male spikelets often very numerous, c. 4 mm long, narrow-ovate, dark brown, pendulous on filiform pedicels, in a panicle; female spikelets few, up to 12 mm long, erect, sessile or shortly pedicellate, in a shortly contracted panicle; bracts and glumes acutely acuminate, rich dark brown. Perianth segments 6. Stamens 3. Stylar branches usually 3. Ovary 1-locular. Fruit an angular capsule. Widespread. Damp ground