Scirpus
Tufted or rhizomatous perennials. Culms several-noded, leafy. Leaves both basal and cauline, blade well-developed; ligule often present. Inflorescence compound, much-branched, with many scabrous branches and numerous spikelets (solitary or clustered); involucral bracts several, leafy. Spikelets numerous-flowered, terete; glumes spirally arranged; hypogynous bristles 6 (or fewer in non-Victorian species), weak and filiform, 2–3 times as long as the nut but at maturity strongly crisped or contorted, sparsely and minutely antrorsely scabrous at least distally (or smooth); stamens 3; style 3-fid (or 2-fid). Nut trigonous.
About 20 species, mainly temperate Northern Hemisphere, especially North America and Asia; 2 species in eastern Australia.
Wilson, K.L. (1994). Cyperaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 238–356. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning