יומן של Schoenus in southern Africa

Over the last year and a half, I have been creating Wikipedia and Wikispecies articles for the southern African Schoenus species. For each species article, I have tried to include species descriptions, a brief taxonomic note and some information on the distributions and key habitats. When possible, I have incorporated images from iNaturalist contributors and myself to help describe the species. I have also included a distribution map for each species to give readers an idea of where a species might be found.

The intention for these pages is to make it easier to identify and understand these difficult-to-identify and complex species. This is a 'work-in-progress', as I realize that improvements can always be made, especially with image quality. Ideally, I would make a digital key available to help you identify your specimen. Then, you could google the species name and see the Wikipedia page to double check your identification. Hopefully, the time will one day be available to do this.

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Southern_African_Schoenus

Wikispecies
https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Tammy_Lynn_Elliott_taxa

I still have yet to create articles for seven species whose names are still being processed through important taxonomic name databases. (Schoenus australis, Schoenus brunnescens, Schoenus graciliculmis, Schoenus inconspicuus, Schoenus crinitus, Schoenus selinae and Schoenus rigidus).

Thanks to all of those who have given me permission to use their images posted on iNaturalist during this process.

Tammy

You will sometimes notice that your images have been identified not to species, but to one of three main groups of southern African Schoenus. This might lead to you questioning: 1) what are these three groups, 2) which species pertain to them, and 3) why are they referred to as groups? I will provide you with a brief explanation.

Schoenus "compar-pictus" group

This group contains some of the most conspicuous southern African Schoenus species. Distinguishing characteristics include:

• dilated primary inflorescence bracts or membranaceous marginal extensions on the bracts. These bracts either partially or entirely cover the spikes;
• sheaths and ligules that are usually open and membranaceous; and
• many species in this group have sticky culm bases and flowering heads.

The two images below show Schoenus compar (sticky) to the left and Schoenus pictus (dilated primary inflorescence bracts) to the right:

More detailed images of this group of Schoenus can be found on the following websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_compar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_megacarpus

Species in this group include:
Schoenus compar, Schoenus arenicola, Schoenus pictus, Schoenus pseudoloreus, Schoenus aureus, Schoenus megacarpus, Schoenus comparoides, Schoenus albovaginatus and Schoenus triticoides.

To date, Schoenus filiculmis is considered in this group, but several characters and preliminary phylogenetic analyses show that this placement is doubtful.

Schoenus "cuspidatus" group

This is the group with the highest number of southern African Schoenus species. It is a confusing group, with a lot of intermediate forms suggesting possible hybridization. Species in this group have leafless flowering stems and a characteristics spikelet with a distinct prophyll.

Detailed images of the characteristics spikelets are shown on here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_cuspidatus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_bolusii

This is the most species-rich of the three southern African Schoenus groups. Based on current knowledge, the species in this group include:
Schoenus auritus, Schoenus graminifolius, Schoenus ligulatus, Schoenus exilis, Schoenus bolusii, Schoenus submarginalis, Schoenus crassiculmis, Schoenus purpurascens, Schoenus prophyllus, Schoenus calceolus, Schoenus quartziticus, Schoenus limosus, Schoenus brunnescens, Schoenus compactus, Schoenus crassus, Schoenus loreus, Schoenus galpinii, Schoenus riparius, Schoenus cuspidatus, Schoenus graciliculmis, Schoenus australis and Schoenus inconspicuus.

It is unclear at this time whether Schoenus bracteosus pertains to the "compar-pictus" or "cuspidatus" group.

Schoenus "Epischoenus" group

Species in this group used to be placed in the genus Epischoenus. They are generally associated with wet habitats and lack leaves on both their flowering stems and bases.

Three examples of species in this group are described on the following pages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_quadrangularis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_neovillosus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenus_gracillimus

Species included in this group are Schoenus complanatus, Schoenus quadrangularis, Schoenus selinae, Schoenus rigidus, Schoenus crinitus, Schoenus adnatus, Schoenus schonlandii, Schoenus lucidus, Schoenus neovillosus and Schoenus gracillimus.

Schoenus dregeanus is an odd species that has characters intermediate to the "cuspidatus" and "Epischoenus" groups.

Why groups and not sections or clades?

This is a decision I have made based on the available evidence. At this time, there are still a few species which are impossible to place with certainty (e.g. Schoenus bracteosus, Schoenus filiculmis and Schoenus dregeanus). In addition, there could be gene exchange among the three different groups, meaning that they are not completely delineated from each other.

Another reason is that I do not see a reason at this time to keep dividing and dividing.

Best of luck with the hunt!

It is time for an update on the race to find different Schoenus species. I have created many Wikipedia pages to help with the identification of the southern African Schoenus species, as well as to give you an idea as to where they can be found. Please refer to them if you need to. You can always ask me if you want to find out more information.

Good-luck with the hunt and don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail message if you need any help.
Tammy

It is always pleasing for me to find more Schoenus observations posted on iNaturalist. For one reason, the understanding of these species and their distributions is improving. We are also getting a better understanding of the habitat preferences and the morphological traits associated with each species.

Research-grade observations of Schoenus are also important for me, because I can easily export the data from iNaturalist and incorporate it into my analyzes. Often researchers use data from repositories such as GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/) for this type of research, but it is much more difficult to check the observations to make sure they are accurate using that platform. While it might not matter that much for analyzes at the global scale, for local- or regional-scale analyzes, such as those focusing on southern Africa, it is preferred to have more accurate, checked data. iNaturalist can supply that data.

Your data will be very useful for a paper that I am currently preparing on the connection between genome size/polyploidy and the niche requirements of different southern African Schoenus species. I could always use more observations for my analyzes - so the more high-quality observations - the better!

Thanks again for everyone's contributions.