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

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

sedge The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. Its species occur in tropical

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

, Australia and the Pacific region. The name comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

– ''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 In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

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 In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

consists of several partial

panicle In botany, 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 p ...

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 Gree ...

'' (Gaudich.) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina arthrophylla'' (Nees) T.Koyama *'' Machaerina articulata'' (R.Br.) T.Koyama *''

Machaerina aspericaulis ''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 austrobrasiliensis ''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 ...

'' M.T.Strong *''

Machaerina ayangannensis ''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 ...

'' M.T.Strong *''

Machaerina bidwellii ''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 ...

'' (Stapf ex Setch.) T.Koyama *''

Machaerina complanata ''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 ...

'' (Berggr.) T.Koyama *''

Machaerina cubensis ''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 deplanchei ''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 ...

'' (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 ''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 ...

'' (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 johnsonii ''Machaerina johnsonii'' is a flowering plant in the sedge family. The species was first described in 1980 as ''Baumea johnsonii'' by Karen Wilson, who reassigned it in 2015 to the genus, ''Machaerina''. The species epithet honours L.A.S. John ...

'' *'' 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 planifolia ''Machaerina planifolia'' is a flowering plant in the sedge family. The species was first described in 1878 as ''Cladium tetraquetrum'' var. ''planifolium'' by George Bentham.Bentham, G. (March 1878)''Flora Australiensis'' 7: 407 It was renamed ...

'' *'' Machaerina preissii'' (Nees) L.A.S.Johnson & Koyama *'' Machaerina raiateensis'' (J.W.Moore) S.L.Welsh *''

Machaerina restioides ''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 ...

'' (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