Jan 31, 2021
#1779 - Mesomelaena tetragona - Semaphore Sedge
From the Greek words mesos and melaino, meaning , meaning “middle, to turn black” , referring to the dark involucral bracts. Tetragona is also Greek, meaning with ‘four equal angles, square’. That and the common name probably refer to the broad angle where the stem split at the flowers. All 5 species in the genus are WA endemics.
Flowering in every month but December. It grows in woodland in white, brown, grey, or lateritic sand, loam, sandy clay, and gravel, from Geraldton to Cape Arid, and unlike more familar sedges doesn’t need to be near water.
