''Uncinia'' 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 family

Cyperaceae 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 ...

, known as hook-sedges in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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

Systematics

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

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

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

Kobresia ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 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'' may ...

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

monophyletic group In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

, 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

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

n distribution, with most species found

, New Zealand and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, as far north as

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Of the 50–60 species, 30 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 () 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 islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...

. Smaller numbers of species are also found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

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 region. They are among the most isolated places on Earth, with the closest t ...

Île Amsterdam (), also known as Amsterdam Island or New 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 forms one of the five districts of the t ...

Île Saint-Paul is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of . The island is located about south of the larger Île Amsterdam , northeast of the Kerguelen Islands, and southeast of Réuni ...

, and the

Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited subantarctic volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean that are administered by South Africa. They are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and P ...

, although none are known from the mainland of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. 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 (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

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

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

*'' 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 Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

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

*'' Uncinia brevicaulis'' Thouars –

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, 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 from Cape Dub ...

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

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

*'' Uncinia costata'' Kük. –

*'' Uncinia dawsonii'' Hamlin –

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

*'' 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 Port ...

*'' Uncinia dikei'' Nelmes –

Marion Island The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited subantarctic volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean that are administered by South Africa. They are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and P ...

*'' 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, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

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

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

*'' Uncinia erinacea'' Pers. –

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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

(

) *'' 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 biogeog ...

*'' Uncinia hookeri'' Boott – New Zealand's

subantarctic islands The sub-Antarctic zone is a physiographic region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region inc ...

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

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

*'' Uncinia koyamai'' Gómez-Laur. –

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

*'' 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 () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

*'' Uncinia meridensis'' Steyerm. –

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

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

*'' Uncinia multifolia'' Boeckeler –

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

*'' Uncinia negeri'' Kük. –

*'' Uncinia nemoralis'' K. L. Wilson –

*'' Uncinia nervosa'' Boott – New Zealand,

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

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

*'' Uncinia perplexa'' Boott –

Surville Cliffs North Cape / Otou () is the northernmost point of New Zealand's main islands. At the northeastern tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, the cape lies east and north of Cape Reinga. The name ''North Cape'' is sometimes used to refer just to the cape ...

(New Zealand) *'' Uncinia phleoides'' (Cav.) Pers. –

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

Tubuai 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 Islands ...

*'' 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 South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

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

*'' Uncinia subtrigona'' Nelmes –

*'' Uncinia sulcata'' K. L. Wilson –

*'' Uncinia tenella'' R. Br. –

*'' 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

{{Authority control Cyperaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot