Gymnostachys anceps

Gymnostachys anceps R.Br. (Araceae), settler's twine or sword sedge, is a tufted, evergreen, rhizomatous perennial herb endemic to eastern Australia from northern Queensland south to southern New South Wales. It is the only species in its monotypic genus and is anomalous within Araceae for its grass-like growth form. The dense basal tussocks bear stiff, dark green, linear-ensiform leaves 60-200 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, sharply two-edged and tough enough that early European settlers shredded them for cordage. From the tussock arises a flattened, sword-shaped flowering stem of similar texture, which bears at intervals several short, axillary spadices of tiny bisexual greenish-yellow flowers, each spadix subtended by a narrow leaf-like spathe. Fruits are small, bright blue ovoid berries 6-8 mm across, conspicuous when ripe. It grows in moist eucalypt forest and rainforest margins on a variety of substrates, often in shaded gullies.