Hairy Spinifex

Scientific Name: Spinifex sericeus

Description: A native perennial grass that grows on dunes that is easily recognised by its broad, flat, silvery, leaves which are quite hairy on both sides hence its name. These hairs help to trap and conserve moisture, an important feature for a plant that grows in sand.

Hairy Spinifex is common along the Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove foreshore and is a very important dune stabiliser at the foot of sand dunes where its long rhizomes extend across the sand, and its deep roots system helps to bind it together.

This plant has separate male and female plants that can be distinguished easily by their flowers with the females having a large almost spherical flower-head to 25cm diameter which breaks free when mature and rolls across the sand. Males have a more compact flower with several narrow clusters of spikes.

Plant form: Grasses
Where to find: Dunes
Foliage: Narrow, silvery leaves with hairs and long runners.