Isolepis cernua (Vahl) Roem. & Schult.

Slender club-rush (en), Scirpe incliné (fr), Souchet penché (fr), Isolépide penchée (fr), Scirpe penché (fr), Isolépis penché (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Cyperaceae > Isolepis

Characteristics

Plants annual (or perennial?); rhizomes usually obscured by culm bases and very short, sometimes vertical and elongated. Culms 4–40 cm × 0.2–0.5 mm. Leaves sometimes sparsely orange-punctate at 10–15X; sheaths usually reddish proximally; distal blade rudimentary to much longer than sheath, often exceeding culm, to 20 cm × 0.2–1 mm. Inflorescences: involucral bract 1, sometimes subtending flower or resembling enlarged floral scale, 2–6(–23) mm. Spikelets 2–5 × 1–2 mm; scales partly or completely dark orange to red-brown, rarely stramineous, midrib greenish to stramineous, not gibbous, obscurely to prominently 3–11-veined, midrib keeled near apex, membranous, hyaline, apex rounded to acute, with mucro less than 0.1 mm; proximal scale to 2 mm; other scales 1.2–1.8 × 1–1.3 mm. Flowers: anthers 0.3–0.6 mm; styles 3-fid or 3-fid and 2-fid. Achenes falling separately from scales, medium to dark brown or stramineous, ellipsoid to obovoid, compressed-trigonous to thickly biconvex, lateral angles usually prominent, abaxial angle prominent to obscure, faces convex or adaxial face slightly concave, 0.8–1 × 0.5–0.7 mm, distinctly papillose at 10–15X to obscurely papillose at 40X, often with thin whitish surface layer. 2n = 30.
More
Tufted annual, up to 50(-150) mm tall. Leaf sheaths frequently reddish, blades absent or rarely very short. Stems filiform. Inflorescence terminal, of 1(-2) spikelet(s), basal bract inconspicuous. Spikelet ovoid, 3 x 1.5 mm, glumes straw-coloured or reddish, with green keels, mucro < 0.1 mm long. Nutlets tuberculate.
Annual herb, up to 150 mm tall. Spikelets 1 or 2 per inflorescence. Bract overtopping inflorescence. Nut ovate or obovate, not beaked, surface puncticulate (or smooth). Glumes boat-shaped, whitish, conspicuously green-keeled.
Densely tufted annual to 14 cm. Spikelets straw-coloured or reddish, with green keels.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality
Pollination anemogamy
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.1 - 0.4
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Light 5-8
Soil humidity 6-9
Soil texture 3-4
Soil acidity 2-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-10

Usage

Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Medicine (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by divisions or seedlings.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -12
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Isolepis cernua leaf picture by Tim Burton (cc-by-sa)
Isolepis cernua leaf picture by Alexandre Crégu (cc-by-sa)
Isolepis cernua leaf picture by Zighiban Zigo (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Isolepis cernua flower picture by Alexandre Crégu (cc-by-sa)
Isolepis cernua flower picture by Alexandre Crégu (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Isolepis cernua fruit picture by Alexandre Crégu (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Isolepis cernua world distribution map, present in Albania, Australia, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Algeria, Ecuador, Spain, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Morocco, Norfolk Island, New Zealand, Peru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tunisia, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uruguay, United States of America, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Isolepis cernua threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1066835-2
WFO ID wfo-0000448337
COL ID 3Q9F9
BDTFX ID 36091
INPN ID 103857
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Isolepis cernua Scirpus aphyllus Scirpus microstachys Scirpus riparius Eleogiton cernua Isolepis monostachya Isolepis pumilo Isolepis saviana Isolepis furcata Isolepis magellanica Isolepis trachycarpa Scirpus acicularis Scirpus pygmaeus Schoenoplectus cernuus Scirpus cernuus Scirpus gracilis Scirpus savii f. todaroanus Scirpus savii f. controversus Cyperus pumilio Cyperus pumilio Cyperus ambiguus Schoenus nitens Isolepis prolifera Isolepis subprolifer Isolepis tenuipes Isolepis trigyna Scirpus cernuus f. macrostachyus Scirpus filiformis Scirpus pumilus Scirpus nervosus var. campanus Scirpus nervosus var. siculus Scirpus savii subsp. campanus Scirpus savii var. major Scirpus savii subsp. minaae Scirpus savii var. minaae Scirpus savii var. vahlii Isolepis saviana var. tenuis Isolepis nervosa var. campana Isolepis nervosa var. sicula Scirpus savii var. fuscescens Scirpus savii var. filiformis Scirpus savii var. mixtus Scirpus savii subsp. vahlii Scirpus setaceus var. pygmaeus

Lower taxons

Isolepis cernua var. cernua Isolepis cernua var. meruensis Isolepis cernua var. setiformis Isolepis cernua var. platycarpa