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Cyperaceae
| The Cyperaceae are grasslike, herbaceous plants comprising about 70 genera and 4,000 species, commonly found in wet or saturated conditions. The stems are usually 3-angled and solid. The leaves are alternate, commonly in 3 ranks, usually with a closed sheathing base and a parallel-veined, strap-shaped blade. The flowers are very minute and are bisexual or unisexual. Each floret is in the axil of a chaffy bract and these are arranged spirally or distichously in spikelets. Perianth may be represented by scales or bristles in two whorls or may be entirely lacking. The androecium consists usually of 3 distinct stamens but 1, 2 or rarely 6 may be present. The gynoecium consists of a single compound pistil of usually 2 or 3 carpels, a single style usually with 2 or 3 lobes or branches, and a superior ovary with a single locule containing a single basal ovule. Sometimes the ovary is enveloped by a membranous sac called a perigynium. The fruit is a 3-angled or lens-shaped achene. |
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