Skip to content
Uncinia

Specimen image via iDigBio · BY-NC

EntityQ7882664· pop 10· linked from 13 articles

Uncinia is a genus of flowering plants 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), especially birds, and it is this feature which gives the genus its name, from the Latin uncinus, meaning a hook or barb.

Species

Genus

  1. PhylumAnnelida
  2. ClassPolychaeta
  3. OrderSpionida
  4. FamilySpionidae
Habitatmarine

via

Museum specimens

Specimen records
158
With media
65
Family
Cyperaceae
Collections
INECOL, CAS, F, NHMUK, UCR, NY
Recorded in
Mexico, Costa Rica, Saint Helena, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Australia, Bolivia

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • Systematics
  • Distribution
  • References

Uncinia is a genus of flowering plants 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), especially birds, and it is this feature which gives the genus its name, from the Latin uncinus, meaning a hook or barb.

==Systematics== Uncinia is a "satellite genus" of the very large genus Carex, alongside other satellites such as Cymophyllus, Kobresia, Schoenoxiphium, Vesicarex. Uncinia seems to form a monophyletic group, 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Uncinia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Available in 9 languages

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0