Psilocarya nitens

• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Description

Family Cyperaceae

Herbs, annual or perennial , cespitose or not, rhizomatous or not, stoloniferous or not. Roots fibrous , principally adventitious. Stems (culms ) usually trigonous , occasionally terete , rarely compressed , usually solid, rarely hollow or septate . Leaves basal and/or cauline, alternate, usually 3-ranked, rarely 2-ranked or multi-ranked, bases forming cylindric sheaths enclosing stem, margins usually fused; junction of sheaths and blades often with adaxial flaps of tissue or fringes of hair (ligules) ; blades frequently absent from some basal leaves , rarely from cauline leaves, when present divergent or ascending , flat, folded, plicate , rolled, or terete, linear , venation parallel. Primary inflorescences (spikelets ) a shortened axis; glumaceous bracts (scales ) 1-many, spirally arranged , sometimes 2-ranked, usually appressed or ascending; scales usually all fertile , each subtending a single flower, sometimes proximal and/or distal scales empty; lateral spikes often with basal, usually empty, usually 2-keeled scale (prophyll) ; occasionally prophyll subtending and enclosing rachilla, bearing 1 pistillate , sometimes (0-) 3 staminate flowers and empty scales (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Secondary inflorescences panicles, often modified to corymb, pseudoumbel, cyme (anthela), raceme , spike, or capitulum (head ), rarely single spike, usually subtended by foliaceous or, less frequently, glumaceous bracts; secondary inflorescences sometimes simulating spikelets (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Flowers hypogynous, bisexual in most genera, unisexual in Scleria, Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia; perianth absent or with (1-) 3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales, usually falling off with fruit; stamens usually (1-) 3, rarely more, usually distinct ; anthers basifixed ; pistils 1, 2-3(-4) -carpellate, fused, locule 1; style undivided or branches 2-3(-4) ; stigma sometimes papillate . Fruits achenes, usually trigonous or biconvex ; pericarps thin (except in Scleria) . Seeds 1; testa thin, free from pericarp; embryo basal; endosperm abundant. x = 5-ca. 100.

Genera ca. 100, species ca. 5000 (27 genera, 843 species in the flora ) : worldwide.

No consensus exists regarding the number of genera and the overall relationships of genera within Cyperaceae. The most recent account of the family (P. Goetghebeur 1998) recognized 104 genera distributed among 4 subfamilies and 14 tribes . That arrangement differs somewhat from that of J. Bruhl (1995) . With one minor exception the arrangement of the family here follows that of Goetghebeur.

The family is characterized by the occurrence of a number of unusual cytological features including: (1) chromosomes with diffuse centromeres , (2) post-reductional meiosis, and (3) pollen grains formed from tetrads in which 3 of the 4 microspores fail to develop. The first two features are found in at least some Juncaceae and are unique to the two families. Juncaceae also have pollen in tetrads, but in that family all four microspores produce pollen grains. Some species in some genera of Cyperaceae (particularly Eleocharis) possess chromosomes with localized centromeres (S. S. Bir et al. 1993) . The wide range of chromosome numbers found in Cyperaceae is largely because of agmatoploidy; polyploidy has been hypothesized for some genera, especially Eleocharis, although polyploidy has not been demonstrated unequivocally.

Because of morphologic similarities in vegetative and inflorescence characters, the family has commonly been associated with Poaceae. Cytological features discussed above clearly indicate that to be a superficial similarity . Data from rbcL studies also support the view that Cyperaceae and Poaceae are not closely related (M. R. Duvall et al. 1993b; G. M. Plunkett et al. 1995) ; they do support the concept of close relationship between Cyperaceae and Juncaceae.

For most families of flowering plants the phenological data given are flowering times. Because most Cyperaceae cannot be reliably identified when in flower, in this volume fruiting time is given for all species by season , sometimes qualified by early, mid, or late, or by months. The fruiting time has been interpreted broadly to include the period when the fruit is more or less fully formed but not yet ripe . The fruiting period provided covers the entire range of the taxon . Quite a difference between fruiting periods in different parts of the range of the species may well occur, especially for widespread species and species with extensive elevation range.

For a recent, comprehensive review of the economic importance of Cyperaceae, see D. A. Simpson and C. A. Inglis (2001) .[1]

Taxonomy

Similar Species

Members of the genus Psilocarya

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More Info

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Further Reading

• A guide and key to the aquatic plants of the Southeastern United States, by Don E. Eyles and Lynne Robertson, Jr. With original drawings by Garnet W. Jex. Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1963. url p. 94.
• An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102nd meridian / by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. New York: Scribner, 1913. url p. 347.
• Annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of New York state, by Homer D. House. Albany, The University of the state of New York, 1924. url p. 154.
• Annual report of the New Jersey State Museum. Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley, url p. 265, p. 95.
• Aquatic and wetland plants of southwestern United States, by Donovan S. Correll and Helen B. Correll. [Washington]Environmental Protection Agency; [For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.]1972. url p. 488, p. 489.
• Bartonia;proceedings of the Philadelphia botanical club. .. 1 - 10 1908 - 19 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Botanical Club, Academy of Natural Sciences. url p. 18, p. 19, p. 20, p. 24, p. 36, p. 41, p. 6, p. 62, p. 71.
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. 7 1906 [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 32, p. 80.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 15 1888 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url , p. 304, p. 387, p. 694.
• Contributions from the Herbarium of Columbia College. New York: Columbia College, 1886-1896. url p. 101.
• Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden. New York: The Garden, 1899- url p. 387.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 52 2005 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 407, p. 575.
• Ecology of Buzzards Bay: an estuarine profile / by Brian L. Howes and Dale D. Goehringer and Center for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts; Rebecca J. Howard, project officer. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1996. url p. 71.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. url p. 103, p. 41.
• Flora of Delaware and the Eastern Shore: an annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of the peninsula of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. [Wilmington]: Society of Natural History of Delaware, 1946. url p. 53.
• Flora of Indiana, by Charles C. Deam. Indianapolis, Wm. B. Burford printing co., contractor for state printing and binding, 1940. url p. 15, p. 206, p. 207.
• Flora of the Indiana dunes, a handbook of the flowering plants and ferns of the lake Michigan Coast of Indiana and of the Calumet District, by Donald Culross Peattie. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1930. url p. 81.
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 189, p. 189.
• Flora of the vicinity of New York; a contribution to plant geography. [New York]1915 url p. 15, p. 172, p. 28.
• List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta growing without cultivation in northeastern North America. Prepared by a Committee of the Botanical Club, American Association for the Advancement of Science. New York, 1894. url p. 64.
• Manual of the flora of the northern states and Canada / by Nathaniel Lord Britton. New York: Holt, 1905. url p. 172, p. 173.
• Manual of the southeastern flora: being descriptions of the seed plants growing naturally in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 1933 New York: The author, 1933. url p. 174.
• Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 5 1893 - 18 Durham, N.C.: Published for the Club by the Seeman Printery, 1889- url p. 64.
• Natural area inventory of Pender County, North Carolina / Raleigh: North Carolina Coastal Energy Impact Program, Office of Coastal Management, North Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources and Community Development, [1982?] url p. 18, p. 87.
• Phytologia memoirs. Plainfield, N.J.: H.N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke, 1980- url p. 114.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 34, p. 385, p. 437.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 222.
• Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science. Indianapolis, Ind.[s.n.] url p. 137, p. 137, p. 219.
• Small, J. K. Flora of the southeastern United States;being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolin, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Indian territory and in Oklahoma and Texas east of the one-hundredth meridian /by John Kunkel Small. .. 1903 New York: The author, 1903. url p. 189.
• Studies in West Indian plants. New York, 1908-26. url .
• The American botanist and florist: including lessons in the structure, life, and growth of plants: together with a simple analytical flora, descriptive of the native and cultivated plants growing in the Atlantic division of the Americ by Alphonso Wood. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1877, c1870. url p. 364.
• The flora of Long Island. Lancaster, Pa.New Era Print., 1899. url .
• The plants of Southern New Jersey with especial reference to the flora of the pine barrens and the geographic distribution of the species. Trenton, N. J., 1911. url , , .
• The plants of Southern New Jersey; with especial reference to the flora of the Pine Barrens and the geographic distribution of the species. Trenton, 1911. url p. 265.
• The plants of southern New Jersey; with especial reference to the flora of the pine barrens and the geographic distribution of the species. Trenton, 1911. url p. 265, p. 52.
• Bruhl, J. 1995. Sedge genera of the world: Relationships and a new classification of the Cyperaceae. Austral. Syst. Bot. 8: 125-305.
• Goetghebeur, P. 1998. Cyperaceae. In: K. Kubitzki et al., eds. 1990+. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. 4+ vols. Berlin etc. Vol. 4, pp. 141-190.
• Mackenzie, K. K. 1931-1935. Cyperaceae [in part]. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Floraâ¦. 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 18, parts 1-7, pp. 1-478.
• Simpson, D. A. and C. A. Inglis. 2001. Cyperaceae of economic, ethnobotanical and horticultural importance: A checklist. Kew Bull. 56: 257-360.
• Svenson, H. K. 1957. Cyperaceae. Tribe 2, Scirpeae. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Flora.... 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 18, pp. 505-556.
• Tucker, G. C. 1987. The genera of Cyperaceae in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 68: 361-445.

Notes

Contributors

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2773071
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4021450

Footnotes

1. Peter W. Ball, A. A. Reznicek, David F. Murray "Cyperaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 3, 4, 192, 243, 252. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

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