Schoenoplectiella Lye (Lye 2003: 20)

Rasaminirina, Fitiavana & Larridon, Isabel, 2023, The genera of Cyperaceae of Madagascar, Plant Ecology and Evolution 156 (3), pp. 276-310 : 276

Schoenoplectiella Lye (Lye 2003: 20)

Type species.

Scirpus articulatus L. [= Schoenoplectiella articulata (L.) Lye]

Description of the genus.

Annuals or perennials, tufted or with firm, short to creeping rhizomes. Culms nodeless and scapose or 1(-3)-noded above the base, trigonous, terete or rarely 7-sided. Leaves reduced to a mucronate sheath, rarely with well-developed blades, ligulate or eligulate. Involucral bracts culm-like, erect, or patent while fruiting, rarely short, rigid, and sheathing, but then appearing as a continuation of the stem. Inflorescence pseudolateral, rarely appearing terminal, a corymb-like anthela or capitate with 1-many spikelets, rarely compound-paniculate with 1-many spikelets, with a conspicuously sinuous main axis. Glumes many, spirally arranged, deciduous or persistent, each subtending a flower; scale apex entire to apiculate. Floret bisexual, rarely polygamodoecious. Perianth bristles present or absent, formed by 0-10 parts, smooth or retrorsely scabrid, bristle-like, as long as or longer than the nutlet, deciduous with the fruit. Stamens 2-3, rarely vestigial in female flowers. Style 2-3-fid, base undifferentiated, rarely distinct and somewhat thickened, persistent. Nutlets smooth or transversely rugose to distinctly ridged, obovate, trigonous to planoconvex or biconvex, dark nearing black when mature, sometimes brown.

Distribution and ecology.

Schoenoplectiella is a cosmopolitan genus ( POWO 2022). It grows in freshwater wetlands, along stream banks, wet grasslands, and rocky areas. Schoenoplectiella is known from all parts of Madagascar; 13 species are known including e.g. Schoenoplectiella corymbosa (Roth ex Roem. & Schult.) J.R.Starr & Jim. Mejías (Figs 8C , 20 ).

Figures

Figure 8. A. Scleria distans. B. Bulbostylis itremoensis. C. Fuirena pubescens (pale green) and Schoenoplectiella corymbosa (dark green). All photos by Fitiavana Rasaminirina.

Figure 20. Schoenoplectiella corymbosa. A. Partial habit (x 2 / 3). B. Inflorescence (x 2 / 3). C. Spikelet (x 6). D. Glume (x 10). E. Young floret (x 10). F. Floret (x 10). G. Nutlet (x 20). A from Richards 6616; B, G from Greenway & Kanuri 12546; C-F from Grimshaw 93. Drawn by Juliet Beentje, reproduced with permission from the artist, originally published in Hoenselaar et al. (2010).