The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus Carex with over 2,000 species.
Rhynchospora is a genus of about 400 species of sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus includes both annual and perennial species, mostly with erect 3-sided stems and 3-ranked leaves. The achenes bear a beak-like tubercule and are sometimes subtended by bristles. Many of the species are similar in vegetative appearance, and mature fruits are needed to make a positive identification.
Carex is a vast genus of nearly 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.
Uncinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, known as hook-sedges in Australia and as hook grasses or bastard grasses in New Zealand. The genus is characterised by the presence of a long hook formed by an extension of the rachilla, which is used to attach the fruit to passing animals (epizoochory), especially birds, and it is this feature which gives the genus its name, from the Latin uncinus, meaning a hook or barb.
Rhynchospora alba, the white beak-sedge, is a plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is a tufted herbaceous perennial around 50 cm tall, with white inflorescences that flower in August. The fruit of the sedge is a small achene with a characteristic beak-like cap. It is dispersed by wind or falls by gravity, leading to individuals existing in tight clumps. The species favours wet, acidic and nutrient poor soils, thriving in Sphagnum-dominated bogs, but also peaty grasslands. As such, it is often used as a positive indicator for bog and mire ecosystem health.
Carex pauciflora, the few-flowered sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to bogs and fens in cool temperate, subarctic, and mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The specific epithet pauciflora refers to the Latin term for 'few flowered'.
Kyllinga is genus of flowering plants in the sedge family known commonly as spikesedges. They are native to tropical and warm temperate areas of the world, especially tropical Africa. These sedges vary in morphology, growing to heights from 2.5 centimeters to a meter and sometimes lacking rhizomes. They are closely related to Cyperus species and sometimes treated as part of a more broadly circumscribed Cyperus.
Ficinia is a genus of tufted or rhizomatous sedges in the family Cyperaceae. There are around 70 recognised species in Africa, four species that occur in New Zealand and a single species Ficinia nodosa that occurs in Australia.
Schoenus is a predominately austral genus of sedges, commonly known as bogrushes, or veldrushes in South Africa. Species of this genus occur mainly in South Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia. Others are found in scattered locations worldwide, from Europe to Asia, North Africa and the Americas. Three species occur in the peatlands of southern South America, including S. antarcticus which is found in Tierra del Fuego, where it forms a component of hyperhumid Magellanic moorland.
Isolepis is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family, containing around 70 species. Isolepis is cosmopolitan, and often found in cool tropical and temperate climates in Africa and Australasia.
Carex subg. Vignea is a subgenus of the sedge genus Carex, containing around 300 of the 2000 species in the genus. Its members are characterised by having bisexual, sessile spikes, where the female flowers have two stigmas each.
Tetraria is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, native to Tanzania, South Africa, Borneo, Australia and New Zealand.
Costularia is a plant genus in the family Cyperaceae. It includes 15 species native to southeastern Africa, ranging from South Africa through Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, and to the islands Madagascar, Réunion, and the Seychelles in the Western Indian Ocean.
Trilepis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae.
Calliscirpus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae.
Sumatroscirpus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae.
Koyamaea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae. The only species is Koyamaea neblinensisW.W.Thomas & G.Davidse.
Neesenbeckia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae. The only species is Neesenbeckia punctoria(Vahl) Levyns.
Oreobolopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae.
Carex tsoi is a species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae, native to Hainan, China. It was formerly thought to be in section Radicales.
