Reedia  |  

Reedia is a robust, tufted caespitose sedge with a woody trunk that forms large leafy clumps to over 1 m in height. The leaves are about 1.2 m in length, bordered by prickles, and they originate from apical shoots of the caudex. The leaf sheaths form water tanks similar to those of a bromeliad. The roots of the plant are all stem-borne and grow down through a mass of dead leaf bases and decaying plant matter to the ground, in the manner of stilt roots. Once below the ground, the roots ramify into vertical and horizontal branches. The horizontal branches of the roots bear apogeotropic rootlets, the tips of which protrude just above ground level somewhat like pneumatophores.