5-577: Schoenoplectus ( club-rush [Old World species], bulrush or tule [New World species]) is a genus of plants in the sedge family with a cosmopolitan distribution . Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus Typha as well as to other sedges. The genus Schoenoplectus was formerly considered part of Scirpus , but recent phylogenetic data shows that they are not closely related. The 34 species accepted: Cyperaceae 94, see text The Cyperaceae ( / ˌ s aɪ p ə ˈ r eɪ s i . iː , - ˌ aɪ / ) are
10-511: A cultivated crop and common weed), white star sedge ( Rhynchospora colorata ), and umbrella sedge ( Cyperus alternifolius ), also known as umbrella papyrus Members of this family are characterised by the formation of dauciform (carrot-like) roots; an alteration in root morphology that researchers regard as analogous to cluster roots in Proteaceae , which help uptake of nutrients such as phosphorus from poor soil. Like other members of
15-666: A family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges . The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genera – the largest being the "true sedges " (genus Carex ), with over 2,000 species. Cyperaceae species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America . While sedges grow in almost all environments, many thrive in wetlands , or in poor soils. Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as sedgelands or as sedge meadows . Some species superficially resemble
20-420: The closely related rushes and the more distantly related grasses . Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes are stems with triangular cross-sections (with occasional exceptions, a notable example being the tule which has a round cross-section) and leaves that are spirally arranged in three ranks . In comparison, grasses have alternate leaves, forming two ranks. This leads to
25-491: The mnemonic "sedges have edges," in order to tell them apart from generally round rushes or hollow, nodded grasses . Some well-known sedges include the water chestnut ( Eleocharis dulcis ) and the papyrus sedge ( Cyperus papyrus ), from which the writing material papyrus was made. This family also includes cotton-grass ( Eriophorum ), spike-rush ( Eleocharis ), sawgrass ( Cladium ), nutsedge or nutgrass (also called chufa, Cyperus esculentus / Cyperus rotundus ,
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