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Cyperaceae

 
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Cyperaceae
 
 
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The family Cyperaceae, or the sedges, is a taxon of monocot
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
 flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s that superficially resemble grasses
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
 or rushes
Juncaceae

The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocotyledon flowering plant family. There are 8 genus and about 400 species. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble Poaceae, though are herbs or Shrub, growing on infertile soils....
. The family is large, with some 4,000 species described in about 70 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges may be found growing in all kinds of situations, many are associated with wetlands, or with poor soils.

Some well-known sedges include the water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis
Eleocharis dulcis

The Chinese water chestnut , more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like Cyperaceae grown for its edible corms. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres....
) and the papyrus
Papyrus

Papyrus is a thick paper material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland Cyperaceae that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
 sedge (Cyperus papyrus
Cyperus papyrus

Cyperus papyrus is a monocot belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial plant native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water....
), from which the Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian writing material
Writing material

Writing material refers to the materials that provide the surfaces on which humans use writing instruments to inscribe writings. The same materials can also be used for symbolic or representational drawings....
 was made.






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The family Cyperaceae, or the sedges, is a taxon of monocot
Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
 flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s that superficially resemble grasses
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
 or rushes
Juncaceae

The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocotyledon flowering plant family. There are 8 genus and about 400 species. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble Poaceae, though are herbs or Shrub, growing on infertile soils....
. The family is large, with some 4,000 species described in about 70 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges may be found growing in all kinds of situations, many are associated with wetlands, or with poor soils.

Some well-known sedges include the water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis
Eleocharis dulcis

The Chinese water chestnut , more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like Cyperaceae grown for its edible corms. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres....
) and the papyrus
Papyrus

Papyrus is a thick paper material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland Cyperaceae that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
 sedge (Cyperus papyrus
Cyperus papyrus

Cyperus papyrus is a monocot belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial plant native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water....
), from which the Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian writing material
Writing material

Writing material refers to the materials that provide the surfaces on which humans use writing instruments to inscribe writings. The same materials can also be used for symbolic or representational drawings....
 was made. This family also includes cotton-grass (Eriophorum), spike-rush (Eleocharis
Eleocharis

Eleocharis is a genus of 250 or more species the Cyperaceae . They are known commonly as spikerushes, although spikesedges is a more technically appropriate name and most scientists who study them in earnest refer to them as such....
), sawgrass (Cladium
Cladium

Cladium is a genus of large Cyperaceaes, with a world-wide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. These are plants characterized by long, narrow leaves having sharp, often serrated margins, and flowering stems 1-3 m tall bearing a much-branched inflorescence....
), nutsedge or nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus
Cyperus rotundus

Cyperus rotundus is a species of Cyperaceae native to Africa, southern and central Europe , and southern Asia.It is a perennial plant, that may reach a height of up to 40 cm....
, a common lawn weed), the large genus of Carex
Carex

Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as Cyperaceaes . It is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology....
, and white star sedge (Rhynchospora colorata
Rhynchospora colorata

White Star Sedge , also known as White-topped Sedge and Starrush Whitetop, is Perennial plant Cyperaceae with white bracts, giving it the appearance of white petals with long, green points....
).

Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes is that members of the sedge family have triangular stems (with occasional exceptions), and their leaves are spirally arranged in three ranks (grasses have alternate leaves forming two ranks).

Selected genera

Eriophorum Latifolium1
  • Abildgaardia
  • Actinoscirpus
  • Blysmus
  • Bolboschoenus
  • Bulbostylis
    Bulbostylis

    Bulbostylis is a genus of plants in the Cyperaceae. They are sometimes called hairsedges. There are over 100 species of these clump-forming plants of dry grasslands and warm and tropical savannas worldwide....
  • Carex
    Carex

    Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as Cyperaceaes . It is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology....
  • Cladium
    Cladium

    Cladium is a genus of large Cyperaceaes, with a world-wide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. These are plants characterized by long, narrow leaves having sharp, often serrated margins, and flowering stems 1-3 m tall bearing a much-branched inflorescence....
  • Cymophyllus
  • Cyperus
    Cyperus

    Cyperus is a large genus of about 600 species of Cyperaceaes, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic ecosystem and growing in still or slow-moving water up to 0.5 m deep....
  • Desmoschoenus
  • Dulichium
    Dulichium (genus)

    Dulichium is a monotypic genus of Cyperaceae containing the single species Dulichium arundinaceum, which is known by the common name threeway sedge....
  • Eleocharis
    Eleocharis

    Eleocharis is a genus of 250 or more species the Cyperaceae . They are known commonly as spikerushes, although spikesedges is a more technically appropriate name and most scientists who study them in earnest refer to them as such....
  • Eleogiton
  • Elyna
  • Eriophorum
  • Ficinia
    Ficinia

    Ficinia is a genus of tufted or rhizotamous Cyperaceaes. There are around 70 recognised species in Africa, two species that occur in New Zealand and a single species Ficinia nodosa that occurs in Australia....
  • Fimbristylis
    Fimbristylis

    Fimbristylis is a genus of cyperaceae. A plant in this genus may be known commonly as a fimbry, fimbristyle, or fringe-rush....
  • Fuirena
  • Gahnia
    Gahnia

    Gahnia is a genus of Cyperaceaes found in Australia and a number of Pacific Islands. The common name is due to the toothed margins. It often forms tussocks....
  • Hypolytrum
    Hypolytrum

    Hypolytrum is a genus of plant in family Cyperaceae.Species include:* Hypolytrum amorimii*     Hypolytrum bahiense* ''Hypolytrum heterophyllum...
  • Isolepis
  • Kobresia
    Kobresia

    Kobresia is a genus of plants in the Cyperaceae. They are sometimes called bog sedges. These perennial sedges are quite similar to Carex species in appearance....
  • Kyllinga
    Kyllinga

    Kyllinga is genus of flowering plants in the Cyperaceae known commonly as spikesedges. They are native to tropical and warm temperate areas of the world, especially tropical Africa....
  • Lagenocarpus
  • Lepidosperma
    Lepidosperma

    Lepidosperma is a genus of flowering plant of the family Cyperaceae native to Australia....
  • Lepironia
  • Lipocarpha
  • Machaerina
  • Mapania
    Mapania

    Mapania is a genus of plant in family Cyperaceae. It contains the following species :* Mapania ferruginea, Henry Nicholas Ridley...
  • Mariscus
  • Mesomelaena
    Mesomelaena

    Mesomelaena is a genus of Cyperaceaes.Species include:*Mesomelaena graciliceps K.L.Wilson*Mesomelaena preissii Nees...
  • Morelotia
  • Oreobolus
  • Oxycaryum
  • Pycreus
  • Remirea
  • Rhynchospora
    Rhynchospora

    Rhynchospora is a genus of about 400 species of Cyperaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. The most distinctive feature of the genus is the one to ten or more long bracts at the base of the inflorescence, resembling a bird's beak or a star, whence the common names....
  • Schoenoplectus
    Schoenoplectus

    Schoenoplectus is a genus of about 80 species of Cyperaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus Typha....
  • Schoenus
    Schoenus

    A schoenus or schoinos is a historical unit of itinerant distance once common throughout the Mediterranean.The Greeks, who adopted it from the Egyptians, considered the schoinos equal to 40 Stadia ....
  • Scirpodendron
  • Scirpoides
  • Scirpus
    Scirpus

    The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush ....
  • Scleria
    Scleria

    Scleria is a genus of plant in family Cyperaceae. Rather tall, coarse plants with leafy, three-angled stems, sometimes with wings along the angles....
  • Trichophorum
  • Uncinia
    Uncinia

    Uncinia is a genus of plant in family Cyperaceae. It contains the following species :* Uncinia ecuadorensis, G.A.Wheeler & Goetgh.* Uncinia lacustris, G.A.Wheeler...
  • Websteria


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