Xyris

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Xyris
N Xyrc D9741.JPG
Xyris complanata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Xyridaceae
Genus: Xyris
L. [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • KotsjilettiAdans.
  • XurisAdans.
  • XyroidesThouars
  • RamothaRaf.
  • SynoligaRaf.
  • SchismaxonSteud.

Xyris is a genus of flowering plants, the yelloweyed grasses, in the yellow-eyed-grass family. The genus counts over 250 species, widespread over much of the world, with the center of distribution in the Guianas. [2] [3] [4]

The leaves are mostly distichous, linear, flat, and thin or round with a conspicuous sheath at the base. They are arranged in a basal aggregation. The small, yellow flowers are borne on a spherical or cylindrical spike or head (inflorescence). Each flower grows from the axil of a leathery bract. The fruit is a nonfleshy, dehiscent capsule. In Xyris complanata, a single flower bud on the spike appears in the morning, and expands into a conspicuous flower during the afternoon. [3]

The APG IV system, of 2016, places the genus in family Xyridaceae, into the order Poales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots.

Species include: [1] [3]

Stand of mostly Xyris complanata in a small wetland Xyris stand.jpg
Stand of mostly Xyris complanata in a small wetland

References

  1. 1 2 "Xyris". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  2. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. 1 2 3 "Xyris". Flora of North America. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  4. ↑ Flora of China, Vol. 24 Page 4, 黄眼草属 huang yan cao shu, Xyris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 42. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5; 25, 1754.
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