Trichoschoenus J.Raynal (Raynal 1968: 223)

Rasaminirina, Fitiavana & Larridon, Isabel, 2023, The genera of Cyperaceae of Madagascar, Plant Ecology and Evolution 156 (3), pp. 276-310 : 276

2. Trichoschoenus J.Raynal (Raynal 1968: 223)

Type species.

Trichoschoenus bosseri J.Raynal

Description of the genus.

Small to medium-sized tufted perennials; thick roots. Culms scapose, densely hairy, flattened, tufted. Leaves reduced to a sheath, leaf sheath of increasing length, blade sometime present as a short mucro, eligulate. Primary bracts mostly as long as or shorter than spikelet, not sheathing. Inflorescence capitate. Spikelets many. Glumes 3, distichous, deciduous, of increasing length, the second subtending a floret, enclosed by the wings of the next. Florets bisexual. Perianth bristles absent. Stamens 3. Style deeply 3-fid, base more or less distinct, thickened, persistent. Nutlets obovoid, trigonous, with a thick short beak, surface minutely reticulate.

Distribution and ecology.

Trichoschoenus is the only endemic genus of Cyperaceae in Madagascar. Its only species Trichoschoenus bosseri (see Browning and Goetghebeur 2017: 85) has only been collected near Ihosy in the Central Highlands ( Raynal 1968). It grows in dry sandy soil, in open woodland ( Browning and Goetghebeur 2017) between 500 to 1000 m in elevation ( Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar 2023).