Cymbopogon refractus (POACEAE) Barbed-wire Grass

A clumping grass native to eastern Australia, widespread and common, prefers lighter, poorer soils. Tufted, erect perennial to 1.5 m. Stems smooth, hairless, rigid, branching at maroon nodes. Habitat for small mammals and frogs. Seeds eaten by Rosellas Platycercus spp.

Leaves are mostly clustered around the base, some on the stems. Leaf blades (lamina) are long and narrow, up to 30 cm, bluish green. The leaves give off a spicy, lemon-ginger smell when crushed.

The seedhead is a narrow panicle with branchlets upon which are spikelets of seeds that project at angles in clusters as they ripen, resembling barbed wire. Green, bluish, becomes reed-brown.