Story: Wetlands
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 because it resembles the feathered head wear of African tribespeople, 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 (inset).
About this item
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Photographs by Peter Johnson
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