What is "spinifex"

Spinifex \Spin"i*fex\, n. [NL.; L. spina spine + facere to make.]

1. (Bot.) A genus of chiefly Australian grasses, the seeds of which bear an elastic spine. Spinifex hirsutus (black grass) and Spinifex longifolius are useful as sand binders. Spinifex paradoxusis a valuable perennial fodder plant. Also, a plant of this genus.

2. Any of several Australian grasses of the genus Tricuspis, which often form dense, almost impassable growth, their leaves being stiff and sharp-pointed.

n. 1 An Australian coastal grass in genus (taxlink Spinifex genus noshow=1) 2 (context Australia English) A coastal grass, in genera (taxlink Trioidia genus noshow=1) or (taxlink Spinifex genus noshow=1).

Spinifex may refer to:

• Spinifex (genus), a genus of grass which is indigenous to the coastal areas of Australasia and Indonesia
• Triodia (plant), a hummock grass of arid Australia, covering twenty percent of the Australian continent (although not technically Spinifex, it is commonly referred to as such)
  • Spinifex resin
• Spinifex hopping mouse, a mouse native to the central and western Australian arid zones
• Spinifex people, or Pila Nguru, an Australian tribe named after the grass
• Spinifex, a texture in certain ultramafic lavas such as komatiite
• Spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera), a bird found in Australia
• Spinifex Ridge, a mine in Australia
• Spinifexbird (Eremiornis carteri), a bird found in Australia

Spinifex is a genus of perennial coastal plants in the grass family.

They are one of the most common plants that grow in sand dunes along the coasts of Africa, Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, with the ranges of some species extending north and west along the coasts of Asia as far as India and Japan. As they help stabilise the sand, these grasses are an important part of the entire sand dune ecosystem. The single species indigenous to New Zealand, Spinifex sericeus, is also found in Australia.

Confusingly, the word "spinifex" is also used as a common name referring to grasses in the related genus Triodia. Triodia however is native to inland Australia and refers to a group of spiny-leaved, tussock-forming grasses.

1. Spinifex × alterniflorus Nees - Western Australia
2. Spinifex hirsutus Labill. - all 6 states of Australia
3. Spinifex littoreus (Burm.f.) Merr. - Ashmore Reef in Western Australia; New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Indochina, Indian Subcontinent, China ( Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan), Japan including Ryukyu Islands
4. Spinifex longifolius R.Br. - Thailand, Indonesia, New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia
5. Spinifex sericeus R.Br. - all 6 states of Australia plus Norfolk Island, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Tonga

Spinifex paradoxus - Zygochloa paradoxa