Cyperaceae

Saw-sedge Cladium mariscus, copyright Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz.

Belongs within: Poales.
Contains: Kobresia, Chrysitricheae, Hypolytreae, Bisboeckelereae, Scleria, Cryptangieae, Schoeneae, Carpheae, Rhynchospora, Scirpeae, Eleocharis, Abildgaardieae, Fuireneae.

The Cyperaceae, sedges, are a cosmopolitan group of grass-like plants commonly found in damp, open habitats. Phylogenetic analysis supports a basal division between the subfamilies Mapanioideae and Cyperoideae with members of the Mapanioideae producing flowers in a 'pseudanthium' that is believed to be derived from numerous reduced, unisexual flowers grouped tightly together to simulate a single flower. The Cyperoideae produce hermaphroditic or unisexual flowers arranged in spikelets. Within the Cyperoideae, the Rhynchosporeae possess both hermaphroditic and unisexual flowers, with only one or two glumes (rarely more) in the middle of a spike producing flowers (Moore & Edgar 1970).

Characters (from Hickman 1993): Annual or perennial, often rhizomed, often of wet open places, generally monoecious; roots fibrous, hairy. Stem generally three-sided. Leaves often 3-ranked; sheath generally closed; ligule generally absent; blade various (rarely absent), parallel-veined. Inflorescence with spikelets variously clustered, flowers generally sessile in axil of flower bract. Flower small, generaly wind-pollinated; perianth absent or bristle-like; stamens generally 3, anthers attached at base, 4-chambered; ovary superior, 1-chambered, 1-ovuled, style 2-3-branched. Fruit an achene, generally three-sided.

<==Cyperaceae [Cyperales]
    |--Mapanioideae SB19
    |    |--Chrysitricheae SB19
    |    `--Hypolytreae SB19
    `--Cyperoideae SB19
         |--Trilepideae SB19
         |    |--Afrotrilepis pilosa SB19
         |    `--+--Microdracoides squamosa SB19
         |       |--Trilepis lhotzkiana SB19
         |       `--Coleochloa SB19
         |            |--C. abyssinica SB19
         |            `--C. setifera SB19
         `--+--Cladium [Cladieae] SB19
            |    |--C. californicum [=C. mariscus var. californicum] H93
            |    |--C. costatum SB19
            |    |--C. gunnii Hook. f. 1858 ME70 (see below for synonymy)
            |    |--C. jamaicense RJ11
            |    |--C. mariscoides V72
            |    |--C. mariscus B78
            |    |--C. procerum B00
            |    `--C. undulatum [incl. Lepidosperma zeylanicum] B78
            `--+--+--Bisboeckelereae SB19
               |  `--Scleria SB19
               `--+--Cryptangieae SB19
                  |--Schoeneae SB19
                  `--+--Carpheae SB19
                     `--+--Rhynchosporeae SB19
                        |    |--Rhynchospora CS77
                        |    |--Vincentia Gaud. 1829 ME70
                        |    |    `--*V. angustifolia ME70
                        |    |--Morelotia Gaud. 1829 ME70
                        |    |    |--*M. gahniaeformis [=Gahnia gahniaeformis] ME70
                        |    |    `--M. affinis (Brong.) Blake 1969 (see below for synonymy) ME70
                        |    |--Remirea maritima [incl. R. wightiana] B78
                        |    |    |--R. m. var. maritima B78
                        |    |    `--R. m. var. pedunculata B78
                        |    `--Elynanthus B78
                        |         |--E. octandrus [=Schoenus octandrus] B78
                        |         `--E. revolutus B78
                        `--+--+--Khoosokia caricoides SB19
                           |  `--+--Dulichieae SB19
                           |     |    |--Dulichium arundinaceum SB19
                           |     |    `--+--Blysmopsis rufa SB19
                           |     |       `--Blysmus SB19
                           |     |            |--B. compressus O88
                           |     |            `--B. sinocompressus SB19
                           |     `--Scirpeae SB19
                           `--+--+--Eleocharis SB19
                              |  `--Abildgaardieae SB19
                              `--Fuireneae SB19

Cyperaceae incertae sedis:
  Cephalocarpus YY22
  Elyna spicata YY22, C55
  Fintelmannia YY22
  Hoppia YY22
  Microschoenus YY22
  Pteroscleria YY22
  Schoenoxiphium YY22
  Didymia YY22
  Cohesia YY22
  Hemicarex YY22
  Kobresia O88
  Volkiella CV06
  Cladiocarya europaea JD05
  Caricoidea nitens JD05
  Schoenoides oligocephalus LC95
  Psilocarya V72
    |--P. nitens V72
    `--P. scirpoides V72
  Caricopsis laxa Samylina 1960 CBH3
  Cyperaceapollis Krutzsch 1970 CBH93
  Asterochaete Nees 1834 KC01
  Chaetospora Br. 1918 KC01
  Durandia Boeck. 1896 KC01
  Vaginaria Rich. ex Pers. 1805 KC01
  Chaetodiscus gilberti (n. d.) B78
  Rhynchocladium SB19

Cladium gunnii Hook. f. 1858 ME70 [incl. C. laxiflorum C06, C. nudum B78, Schoenus nudus B78, Gahnia sulcata B78]

Morelotia affinis (Brong.) Blake 1969 [=Lampocarya affinis Brong. 1829, Gahnia affinis (Brong.) Steud. 1855, Machaerina affinis (Brong.) Kern 1962, Mariscus affinis (Brong.) Kuntze 1891, Gahnia arenaria Hook. f. 1864; incl. Morelotia gahniaeformis var. minor Rich. 1832] ME70

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B78] Bentham, G. 1878. Flora Australiensis: A description of the plants of the Australian Territory vol. 7. Roxburghiaceae to Filices. L. Reeve & Co.: London.

[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 1. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[CBH93] Collinson, M. E., M. C. Boulter & P. L. Holmes. 1993. Magnoliophyta (‘Angiospermae’). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 809–841. Chapman & Hall: London.

[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[CV06] Craven, P., & P. Vorster. 2006. Patterns of plant diversity and endemism in Namibia. Bothalia 36 (2): 175–189.

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[JD05] Junge, F. W., M. Dolezych, H. Walther, T. Böttger, A. Kühl, L. Kunzmann, P. Morgenstern, T. Steinberg & R. Stange. 2005. Ein Fenster in Landschaft und Vegetation vor 37 Millionen Jahren: Lithologische, sedimentgeochemische und paläobotanische Befunde aus einem Paläoflusssystem des Weißelsterbeckens. Mauritiana 19 (2): 185–273.

[KC01] Kirk, P. M., P. F. Cannon, J. C. David & J. A. Stalpers. 2001. Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi 9^th ed. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[LC95] Linder, H. P., & M. D. Crisp. 1995. Nothofagus and Pacific biogeography. Cladistics 11: 5–32.

[ME70] Moore, L. B., & E. Edgar. 1970. Flora of New Zealand vol. 2. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. A. R. Shearer, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: an introductory note. In: Ohba, H., & S. B. Malla (eds) The Himalayan Plants vol. 1. The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19–46.

[RJ11] Rising, J. D., A. Jaramillo, J. L. Copete, P. G. Ryan & S. C. Madge. 2011. Family Emberizidae (buntings and New World sparrows). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 428–683. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[SB19] Semmouri, I., K. Bauters, É. Léveillé-Bourret, J. R. Starr, P. Goetghebeur & I. Larridon. 2019. Phylogeny and systematics of Cyperaceae, the evolution and importance of embryo morphology. Botanical Review 85: 1–39.

[V72] Voss, E. G. 1972. Michigan Flora. Part I. Gymnosperms and Monocots. Cranbrook Institute of Science and University of Michigan Herbarium.

[YY22] Yampolsky, C., & H. Yampolsky. 1922. Distribution of sex forms in the phanerogamic flora. Bibliotheca Genetica 3: 1–62.

Last updated: 4 January 2022.