Widespread in swamps, (Carex secta), is a tussock-forming sedge. Its drooping leaves are rough and can cut the skin. It used to be called niggerhead, a term now considered unacceptably derogatory, because it resembles the feathered head wear of African tribes people, or to describe the plant’s blackened appearance after the fires that swept through swamplands during early European settlement.

There are about 60 known species of Carex in New Zealand’s wetlands – some are hard to distinguish unless they are flowering or in seed.

Ian Jensen