Sedges and Rushes

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All herbarium type specimens are courtesy of the New York Botanical Gardens Herbarium.

Key to the sedges of Cuatrociénegas
Clave de Cyperaceae de Cuatrociénegas
See this page as a list without pictures

Sedges (Family Cyperaceae) and rushes (Family Juncaceae) are wetland plants that superficially resemble grasses.  Below is a list of all the species found in Cuatrociénegas.  The first species name is that which is used in Pinkava's flora of the basin.  Any names after that are synonyms, with the accepted name of present in bold. 

Sedges have edges: they are usually have triangular stems, with leaves, if present, three-ranked, one for each side of the stem.
There are fifteen species of sedges found in Cuatrociénegas.

Rushes are round:  they have stems that appear circular in cross-section, and are solid, in contrast to grasses, which have hollow stems.
There is only one rush species found in Cuatrociénegas.

Below is a list with pictures of the sedges and rushes found in Cuatrociénegas.

Juncaceae

Juncus
Juncus torreyi Coville

Cyperaceae

Carex

Carex planostachys Kunze

       
Carex pringlei L. H. Bailey

Carex schiedeana Kunze

Cladium
          
Cladium jamaicense Crantz; Cladium mariscus (L.) Pohl ssp. jamaicense (Crantz) Kükenth;            Cladium leptostachyum Nees & Meyen; Mariscus jamaicensis (Crantz) Britt.

 

Cyperus
   
Cyperus odoratus L.;  Cyperus acicularis Schrad. ex Nees; Cyperus eggersii Boeckl.; Cyperus engelmannii Steud.; Cyperus ferax L.C. Rich.; Cyperus ferruginescens Boeckl.; Cyperus longispicatus J.B.S. Norton; Cyperus macrocephalus Liebm.; Cyperus macrocephalus var. eggersii (Boeckl.) S.D. Jones, J. Wipff & R. Carter; Cyperus odoratus var. acicularis (Schrad. ex Nees) O'Neill; Cyperus odoratus var. engelmannii (Steud.) R. Carter & S.D. Jones; Cyperus odoratus var. squarrosus (Britt.) S.D. Jones, J. Wipff & R. Carter; Cyperus speciosus Vahl; Cyperus speciosus var. squarrosus Britt.; Mariscus huarmensis Kunth; Torulinium confertum Desv. ex Hamilton; Torulinium eggersii (Boeckl.) C.B. Clarke; Torulinium odoratum (L.) S. Hooper

Dichromena
Dichromena colorata (L.) A. S. Hitchc.; Rhynchospora colorata (L.) H. Pfeiffer

Eleocharis

Eleocharis caribaea (Rootb.) Blake; Eleocharis geniculata (L.) Roemer & J.A. Schultes

Eleocharis cellulosa Torrey

Eleocharis montevidensis Kunth; Eleocharis arenicola Torr.

       
Eleocharis rostellata (Torrey) Torrey;  Eleocharis rostellata var. congdonii Jepson; Eleocharis rostellata var. occidentalis S. Wats.; Scirpus rostellatus Torr.
Note the flattened, two-sided stem near the inflorescence.  Also note how the tip of the long shoot at the bottom has tissue ready for underground growth.  These grow long, fall over, and root into the ground.

Fimbristylis

Fimbristylis thermalis Wats.; Fimbristylis spadicea auct. non (L.) Vahl; Scirpus spadiceus auct. non L.

Fuirena
Fuirena simplex Vahl

Schoenus
Schoenus nigricans L.

Scirpus
                       
Scirpus maritimus L. var paludosus (A. Nels.) Koyama; Schoenoplectus maritimus (L.) Lye;  Bolboschoenus maritimus (L.) Palla; Bolboschoenus maritimus ssp. paludosus (A. Nels.) A.& D. Löve; Bolboschoenus paludosus (A. Nels.) Soó; Scirpus fernaldii Bickn.; Scirpus maritimus var. fernaldii (Bickn.) Beetle; Scirpus pacificus Britt.; Scirpus paludosus A. Nels.; Scirpus paludosus var. atlanticus Fern.

                   
Scirpus olneyi Gray; Schoenoplectus americanus (Pers.) Volk. ex Schinz & R. Keller;  Scirpus americanus Pers.; Scirpus chilensis Nees & Meyen ex Kunth; Scirpus conglomeratus Kunth; Scirpus pungens var. longisetus Benth. & F. Muell.