''Uncinia'' 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 family Cyperaceae, known as hook-sedges in Australia and as hook grasses or bastard grasses in New Zealand. The genus is characterised by the presence of a long hook formed by an extension of the rachilla, which is used to attach the fruit to passing animals (

epizoochory In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...

), especially birds, and it is this feature which gives the genus its name, from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''uncinus'', meaning a hook or barb.

Systematics

''Uncinia'' is a "satellite genus" of the very large genus ''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...

'', alongside other satellites such as '' Cymophyllus'', ''

Kobresia ''Kobresia'' is a genus of plants in the sedge family. They are sometimes called bog sedges. These perennial sedges are quite similar to ''Carex'' species in appearance. The genus is widespread across much of Europe, Asia and North America, with ...

'', '' Schoenoxiphium'', '' Vesicarex''. ''Uncinia'' seems to form a

monophyletic group A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

, with the most distinct species being '' U. kingii'', a species which has sometimes been placed in the genus ''Carex''. Similarly, '' Carex microglochin'' has sometimes been included in ''Uncinia'', as ''U. microglochin''.

Distribution

''Uncinia'' has a Gondwanan distribution, with most species found Australia, New Zealand and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, as far north as

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Of the 50–60 species, 30 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Zealand, 6 are endemic to the east coast of Australia, and 4 are endemic to the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...

. Smaller numbers of species are also found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena a ...

Kerguelen The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

Île Amsterdam Île Amsterdam (), also known as Amsterdam Island and New Amsterdam (''Nouvelle-Amsterdam''), is an island of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean that together with neighbouring Île Saint-Paul to the south f ...

Île Saint-Paul Île Saint-Paul (Saint Paul Island) is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (''Terres australes et antarctiques françaises'', TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of . The island is located about south of the la ...

, and the

Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

, although none are known from the mainland of

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 ...

. This distribution suggests that the genus had an origin in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. It contains the following species: *'' Uncinia affinis'' (C. B. Clarke) Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia andina'' G. A. Wheeler –

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

*'' Uncinia angustifolia'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia araucana'' G. A. Wheeler –

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

*'' Uncinia aspericaulis'' G. A. Wheeler –

*'' Uncinia astonii'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia aucklandica'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia austroamericana'' G. A. Wheeler –

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

*'' Uncinia banksii'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia bracteosa'' Phil. –

*'' Uncinia brevicaulis'' Thouars –

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

*'' Uncinia caespitosa'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia chilensis'' G. A. Wheeler –

*'' Uncinia clavata'' (Kük.) Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia compacta'' R. Br. – Australia *'' Uncinia costata'' Kük. –

*'' Uncinia dawsonii'' Hamlin – New Caledonia *'' Uncinia debilior'' F. Muell. –

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

*'' Uncinia dikei'' Nelmes – Marion Island *'' Uncinia distans'' Col. ex Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia divaricata'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia douglasii'' Boott –

*'' Uncinia drucei'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia ecuadorensis'' G. A. Wheeler & Goetgh. –

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

*'' Uncinia egmontiana'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia elegans'' (Kük.) Hamlin – New Zealand,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

*'' Uncinia erinacea'' Pers. –

*'' Uncinia ferruginea'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia filiformis'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia flaccida'' S. T. Blake –

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

( Australia) *'' Uncinia fuscovaginata'' Kük. – New Zealand *'' Uncinia gracilenta'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia hamata'' (Sw.) Urb. –

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

*'' Uncinia hookeri'' Boott –

New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

subantarctic islands,

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...

*'' Uncinia involuta'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia kingii'' R.Br. ''ex'' Boott –

*'' Uncinia koyamai'' Gómez-Laur. – Costa Rica *'' Uncinia lacustris'' G. A. Wheeler –

*'' Uncinia laxiflora'' Petrie – New Zealand *'' Uncinia lechleriana'' Steud. – Magellan Region *'' Uncinia leptostachya'' Raoul – New Zealand *'' Uncinia loliacea'' Phil. –

*'' Uncinia longifructus'' (Kük.) Petrie – New Zealand *'' Uncinia macloviformis'' G. A. Wheeler –

*'' Uncinia macrophylla'' Steud. –

*'' Uncinia macrotricha'' Franch. –

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

*'' Uncinia meridensis'' Steyerm. –

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

*'' Uncinia multifaria'' Nees ''ex'' Boott –

*'' Uncinia multifolia'' Boeckeler – Colombia *'' Uncinia negeri'' Kük. –

*'' Uncinia nemoralis'' K. L. Wilson – Australia *'' Uncinia nervosa'' Boott – New Zealand,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

*'' Uncinia obtusifolia'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia ohwiana'' Koyama –

*'' Uncinia paludosa'' G. A. Wheeler & Goetgh. –

*'' Uncinia perplexa'' Boott – Surville Cliffs (New Zealand) *'' Uncinia phleoides'' (Cav.) Pers. –

*'' Uncinia purpurata'' Petrie – New Zealand *'' Uncinia rapaensis'' H. St. John –

Tubuai Tubuai or Tupuai is the main island of the Austral Island group, located south of Tahiti. In addition to Tubuai, the group of islands include Rimatara, Rurutu, Raivavae, Rapa and the uninhabited Îles Maria. They are part of the Austral Isla ...

*'' Uncinia rubra'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia rupestris'' Raoul – New Zealand *'' Uncinia scabra'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia scabriuscula'' G. A. Wheeler –

*'' Uncinia sclerophylla'' Nelmes –

*'' Uncinia silvestris'' Hamlin – New Zealand *'' Uncinia sinclairii'' Boott – New Zealand *'' Uncinia smithii'' Phil. – South Georgia,

*'' Uncinia strictissima'' Petrie – New Zealand *'' Uncinia subsacculata'' G. A. Wheeler & Goetgh. –

*'' Uncinia subtrigona'' Nelmes –

*'' Uncinia sulcata'' K. L. Wilson – Australia *'' Uncinia tenella'' R. Br. – Australia *'' Uncinia tenuifolia'' G. A. Wheeler & Goetgh. –

*'' Uncinia tenuis'' Poeppig ''ex'' Kunth –

*'' Uncinia uncinata'' (L. f.) Kük. – New Zealand,

*'' Uncinia viridis'' (C. B. Clarke) Edgar – New Zealand *'' Uncinia zotovii'' Hamlin – New Zealand

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7882664 Cyperaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot