sedge

(sĕj)

[Middle English segge, from Old English secg.]

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A plant which grows in dense tufts in marshy places; used to form a ridge on a thatched roof.

A grasslike plant. Most sedges have three-angled stems, giving rise to the phrase “Sedges have edges.”

Numerous aquatic plants including Carex vulpina, Schoenus spp.

• Botany and Plant Parts - sedge: any of the family of rushlike or grasslike herbaceous plants growing in wet areas and having solid stems, slender leaves, and spikes of small flowers
• Grasses, Sedges, and Grasslike Plants - sedge: any of the family of rushlike or grasslike herbaceous plants growing in wet areas and having solid stems, slender leaves, and spikes of small flowers
• Grasses, Sedges, and Grasslike Plants
• Woods and Brush - sedge: tufted marsh plant
• Reddish Brown

This article is about plants in the family Cyperaceae. For other uses of "sedge", see Sedge (disambiguation).

Cyperaceae
Cyperus polystachyos flower head
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
clade:	Angiosperms
clade:	Monocots
clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Cyperaceae Juss.
Genera
About 109 (not all listed here)

Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera.^[1] 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. Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as sedgelands.

Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes are that members of the sedge family have stems with triangular cross-sections (with occasional exceptions), and their leaves are spirally arranged in three ranks (grasses have alternate leaves forming two ranks).^[2][3][4]

Some well-known sedges include the water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) and the papyrus sedge (Cyperus papyrus), from which the Ancient Egyptian writing material was made. This family also includes cotton-grass (Eriophorum), spike-rush (Eleocharis), sawgrass (Cladium), nutsedge or nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus, a common lawn weed), the large genus of Carex, and white star sedge (Rhynchospora colorata).

Selected genera

Broad-leaved Cotton-grass (Eriophorum latifolium)

• Abildgaardia
• Actinoscirpus
• Actinoschoenus
• Afrotrilepis
• Alinula
• Amphiscirpus
• Androtrichum
• Arthrostylis
• Ascolepis
• Becquerelia
• Baumea
• Blysmus
• Bolboschoenus
• Bulbostylis
• Carex
• Cladium
• Cymophyllus
• Cyperus
• Desmoschoenus
• Dulichium
• Eleocharis
• Eleogiton
• Elyna
• Eriophorum
• Ficinia
• Fimbristylis
• Fuirena
• Gahnia
• Hypolytrum
• Isolepis
• Kobresia
• Kyllinga
• Lagenocarpus
• Lepidosperma
• Lepironia
• Lipocarpha
• Machaerina
• Mapania
• Mariscus
• Mesomelaena
• Morelotia
• Oreobolus
• Oxycaryum
• Pycreus
• Remirea
• Rhynchospora
• Schoenoplectus
• Schoenus
• Scirpodendron
• Scirpoides
• Scirpus
• Scleria
• Trichophorum
• Uncinia
• Websteria

References

1. ^ R. Govaerts & D. A. Simpson, with J. Bruhl, T. Egorova, P. Goetghebeur & K. Wilson (2007). Word Checklist of Cyperaceae: Sedges. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 9781842461990. 
2. ^ "Grasslike non-grasses". http://www.backyardnature.net/fl_caryx.htm. 
3. ^ Peter W. Ball, A. A. Reznicek & David F. Murray. "210. Cyperaceae Jussieu". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Cyperaceae. Flora of North America. 23. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195152074. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10246. 
4. ^ Brian R. Speer (September 29, 1995). "Glumiflorae: More on Morphology". University of California, Berkeley. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/monocots/glumiflorae/glummm.html. Retrieved March 23, 2007. 

External links

• Cyperaceae at The Plant List
• Cyperaceae at The Families of Flowering Plants (DELTA)
• Cyperaceae at the Encyclopedia of Life
• Cyperaceae at the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
• Cyperaceae at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of North America
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of Michigan
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of Northern Ireland
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of Zimbabwe
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of Western Australia
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of New South Wales
• Cyperaceae at the online Flora of New Zealand
• Cyperaceae at Flowers in Israel

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - star, halvgræs, vårflue

Nederlands (Dutch)
zegge(moeras)

Français (French)
n. - laiche, carex

Deutsch (German)
n. - Segge

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) μαχαιρίδι, σπαθόχορτο

Italiano (Italian)
falasco

Português (Portuguese)
n. - junça (f) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
осока

Español (Spanish)
n. - juncia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - starrgräs

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
莎草, 苔

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 莎草, 苔

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 사초속의 각종 식물

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - スゲ, 群れ, 餌場

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ألبردي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כריך (צמח-ביצות)‬

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