''Isolepis'' is a cosmopolitan
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
sedge
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...
containing around 70 species.
''Isolepis'' is found in cool tropical and temperate climates often in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
.
''Isolepis'' was first described by prolific botanist
Robert Brown in 1810.
In 1870 a botanist
Boeckeler disbanded the genus putting most of the names under a different genus, ''
Scirpus''. By the early 20th century ''Isolepis'' ceased to exist with other botanists following on from Boeckler's work.
It was not until the late 20th century that ''Isolepis'' was reinstated as a distinct genus due to
embryological
Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...
research.
See also
*
List of Isolepis species
List of ''Isolepis'' species — a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants in the sedge family, Cyperaceae.
Species
The genus ''Isolepis'' contains around 70 recognised species, they include:
*'' Isolepis alpina'' Hook.f.
*'' Isolepis angelic ...
References
Cyperaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
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