| 1. | Plants glabrous | S. longifolius (NT WA QLD) |
| Plants silky-hairy to some degree | 2 | |
| 2. | Leaf-blades hairy below, glabrous above, green |
S. x alterniflorus (WA) |
| Leaf-blades densely hairy on both sides, grey-green | 3 | |
| 3. | Culm internode 9-18 mm thick; leaf-blade 9-17 mm wide | S. hirsutus (SA WA) |
| Culm internode 4-8 mm thick; leaf-blade 5-10 mm wide | S. sericeus (NSW VIC TAS SA QLD) |
Key to Spinifex derived from Craig 1984; Webster 1987; Heyligers
1988
Taxonomic name: