porcupine-grass

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


the name given to certainspecies of Triodia, of which the more important are T. mitchelli, Benth., T. pungens, R. Br., and T. irritans, R. Br. This grass forms rounded tussocks,growing especially on the sand-hills of the desert parts ofAustralia, which may reach the size of nine or ten feet indiameter. The leaves when dry form stiff, sharp-pointedstructures, which radiate in all directions, likeknitting-needles stuck in a huge pincushion. In the writingsof the early Australian explorers it is usually, buterroneously, called Spinifex (q.v.). The aboriginescollect the resinous material on the leaves of T. pungens, and use it for various purposes, such asthat of attaching pieces of flint to the ends of theiryam-sticks and spear-throwers.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discoveryand Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 284:

«It [ Triodia] grows in tufts like large beehives, orpiles of thrift grass, and the leaves project out rigidly inall directions, just like Chevaux-de-frise. Merelybrushing by will cause the points to strike into the limbs,and a very short walk in such country soon covers the legs withblood. . . . Unfortunately two or three species of it extendthroughout the whole continent, and form a part of thedescriptions in the journal of every explorer.»

1880 (before). P. J. Holdsworth, `Station-hunting on theWarrego,' quoted in `Australian Ballads and Rhymes' (ed.Sladen), p. 115:

«Throughout that night,

Cool dews came sallying on that rain-starved land,

And drenched the thick rough tufts of bristly grass,

Which, stemmed like quills (and thence termed porcupine),

Thrust hardily their shoots amid the flints

And sharp-edged stones.»

1889. E. Giles, `Australia Twice Traversed,' vol. i. p. 76:

«No porcupine, but real green grass made up a really prettypicture, to the explorer at least.»

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 148:

«These were covered with spinifex, or porcupine-grass, theleaves of which are needle-pointed.»

1896. R. Tate, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Botany,p. 119:

«In the Larapintine Region . . . a species of Triodia(`porcupine grass' or, incorrectly, `spinifex' of explorersand residents) dominates sand ground and the sterile slopesand tops of the sandstone table-lands.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

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