Description: Small annuals.
Leaves filiform to subulate in a basal tuft. Scapes erect, filiform, leafless; inflorescence a laterally flattened terminal spike; rachis flexuous; primary bracts 6–18, distichous, imbricate, glume-like, herbaceous with hyaline margins; pseudanthia absent; lowest 1 or 2 primary bracts each enclosing 1–3 male flowers and sometimes 1 separate female flower, stamen subtended by a short ovate hyaline secondary bract; upper primary bracts shorter, each enclosing 1 female flower, ovary narrow-ovoid; style brownish, exserted.
Fruit dry; seed fusiform, smooth.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 6 species, endemic Australia. Australia: Qld, N.S.W., Vic., Tas., W.A.
Text by E. A. Brown
Taxon concept:
| One species in NSW: Aphelia gracilis |
|
