''Machaerina'' (twigrush) is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

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 ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. Its species occur in tropical

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

region. The name comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''machaira'' (a large knife), alluding to the shape of the leaves in the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

– ''Machaerina restioides''.

Description

The species in the genus are

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennials A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are mainly basal, with a few cauline, laterally compressed,

distichous In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alternat ...

and equitant at base. The culms are tufted and pithy. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

consists of several partial

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s. The flowers may be bisexual or male.

Species

Described species include: *''

Machaerina acuta ''Machaerina'' (twigrush) is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family. Its species occur in tropical America, the West Indies, Malesia, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the Greek ''machaira'' (a large knife), alluding ...

'' (Labill.) J.Kern *'' Machaerina anceps'' (Poir.) Bojer *''

Machaerina angustifolia ''Machaerina'' (twigrush) is a genus of flowering plants in the Cyperaceae, sedge family (biology), family. Its species occur in tropical Americas, America, the West Indies, Malesia, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the Greek ...

'' (Gaudich.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina arthrophylla'' (Nees) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina articulata'' (R.Br.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina aspericaulis'' (Kük.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina austrobrasiliensis'' M.T.Strong *'' Machaerina ayangannensis'' M.T.Strong *'' Machaerina bidwellii'' (Stapf ex Setch.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina complanata'' (Berggr.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina cubensis'' (Kük.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina deplanchei'' (Boeckeler) T.Koyama *''

Machaerina disticha ''Machaerina'' (twigrush) is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family. Its species occur in tropical America, the West Indies, Malesia, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the Greek ''machaira'' (a large knife), alluding ...

'' (C.B.Clarke) T.Koyama *''

Machaerina ekmanii ''Machaerina'' (twigrush) is a genus of flowering plants in the sedge family. Its species occur in tropical America, the West Indies, Malesia, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the Greek ''machaira'' (a large knife), alluding ...

'' (Kük.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina ensifolia'' (Boeckeler) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina ensigera'' (Hance) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina falcata'' (Nees) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina ficticia'' (Hemsl.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina filifolia'' Griseb. *'' Machaerina flexuosa'' (Boeckeler) J.Kern *'' Machaerina glomerata'' (Gaudich.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina gunnii'' (Hook.f.) J.Kern *'' Machaerina hirta'' Boeckeler *'' Machaerina huttonii'' (Kirk) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina insularis'' (Benth.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina involuta'' H.St.John *'' Machaerina iridifolia'' (Bory) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina juncea'' (R.Br.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina lamii'' (Kük.) J.Kern *'' Machaerina lavarum'' (Poir.) Bojer *'' Machaerina laxa'' (Nees) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina maingayi'' (C.B.Clarke) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina mariscoides'' (Gaudich.) J.Kern *'' Machaerina milnei'' (C.B.Clarke) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina montana'' (J.Raynal) Lye *'' Machaerina monticola'' (Guillaumin) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina muelleri'' (C.B.Clarke) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina myriantha'' (Chun & F.C.How) Y.C.Tang *'' Machaerina nuda'' (Steud.) J.Kern *'' Machaerina nukuhivensis'' (F.Br.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina preissii'' (Nees) L.A.S.Johnson & Koyama *'' Machaerina raiateensis'' (J.W.Moore) S.L.Welsh *'' Machaerina restioides'' (Sw.) Vahl *'' Machaerina riparia'' (Nees) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina rubiginosa'' (Spreng.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina scirpoidea'' (Steud.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina sinclairii'' (Hook.f.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina tenax'' (Hook.f.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina teretifolia'' (R.Br.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina tetragona'' (Labill.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina vaginalis'' (Benth.) T.Koyama

References

Cyperaceae genera {{Cyperaceae-stub