Empodisma minus 

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Monocots >  Commelinids  > Poales > Restionaceae > Empodisma  minus

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Lesser Wire Rush 

• Also, spreading rope-rush

Conservation status:  Least concern

Etymology:   

• The Latin name Empodisma minus translates to “tangle-foot” “small”.

Flowers:                  

• Spikelets, the primary inflorescence of the grass, are usually solitary and sessile in males and females, however, axillary in the males but in the upper axils in the females

• Flowers from August until December, the flowers are yellow in colour

Fruit:                         

• The fruit of E. minus is a hard oval nut, sessile and approximately 2 mm long

• Fruit appears from November up to March

Leaves:         

• The sheaths are reduced leaves which keep close to the stem and have whitish axillary hairs

Stem & branches: 

• The stems are 15–200 cm long, numerously branched, semi-terete and dark green to dark brown in colour

• The stem keeps upright when short, yet becomes procumbent when tall

• The stem has 5.5–12 mm long sheaths that seemingly divide it to multiple segments

Roots:         

• The plant has a robust rhizome with a diameter of about 8 mm and numerous roots that ascend horizontally

Habit:        

• A perennial evergreen belonging to the southern-hemisphere family of monocotyledons called the Restionaceae

Habitat:   

• In both regions it grows from coastal to alpine areas, preferring fens, bogs, heaths, swamps and stream margins

Distribution:                  

• Is found from Queensland to South Australia, Tasmania 

• Also, throughout New Zealand south of 38 ° latitude, or the central north island

• It is found most densely in the South-Eastern parts of Australia, also in Tasmania and only absent from Western Australia and the Northern Territory

• The species is also present in New-Zealand

Additional notes:     

• In 2012 the new species Empodisma robustum was described in New Zealand, with what was previously described as E. minus from the lowland raised bogs of Waikato and Northland now being re-classified as E. robustum.[5] E. minus remains an important peatformer in the south of New Zealand and in high altitude peatlands

• Ecology

• The Restionaceae, which includes the family Empodisma, withstands nutrient poor soils and seasonal drought

• E. minus can also experience occasional fires which can be detrimental, yet the plant is able to resprout, although slowly

• In New Zealand, the species commonly grows in a thick carpet together with, for example, Leptospermum scoparium (heath shrub)

• Baumea teretifolia (sedge), Gleichenia dicarpa and Gleichenia microphylla (ferns) and Sphagnum cristatum (moss)

• Empodisma minus has been classified as the dominant species in the ombrotrophic mires of New Zealand, mainly due to its high peat-forming ability and could even be called an ecosystem engineer for fen-to-bog transitions

• In Australia, Empodisma minus is associated with Richea continentis and Baeckea gunniana (shrubs), Gleichenia alpina (fern)

• Sphagnum cristatum (moss) and Astelia alpina (monocotyledonous herb)

• The dry seasons contribute to decomposition and limited peat formation, whereas the wet seasons boost the plant’s root growth and peat accumulation

• Empodisma minus is also the host plant for the larvae of the endemic New Zealand species of moth Aponotoreas synclinalis

Sources of information:

• (2023)