Niggerhead
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Niggerhead
Widespread in swamps, niggerhead (Carex secta) is a tussock-forming sedge. Its drooping leaves are rough and can cut the skin. It may have been called niggerhead (now considered derogatory) because it resembles the feathered headwear 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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