Citation: R. Br., Prod. Fl. Nov. Holl. 221 (1810)

Derivation: Greek isos, equal; lepis scale; alluding to the glumes

Synonymy: Eligiton Link, Hort. Bot. Berol 1:284 (1827).

Common name: Club-rushes

Description:
Annual or slender perennial herbs; stems solitary or tufted or weakly creeping or floating; leaves with or without blades; inflorescence terminal on a usually nodeless scape but often appearing lateral; involucral bracts usually 1, stiff, erect and culm-like and continuing the stem.

Inflorescence a head of 1 to numerous spikelets; spikelets several-flowered, 2.5-6 mm long, oviod or oblong, angled or not; glumes spirally arranged around the rhachilla; flowers bisexual; stamens 1-3; style slender throughout, decidous, branches 2 or 3; hypogynous bristles 0.

Distribution:  About 70 species especially in Africa and Australia.

Biology: No text

Taxonomic notes: The descision to separate Isolepis from Scirpus and the key species are taken from K. Wilson(1981) Tleopea 2:153-172.

Key to Species:

1. Styles 2-fid
2. Spikelets 1 or 2.
3. Glumes 1.8-2.7 mm long, green to straw-coloured at least in part	I. fluitans 4.
3. Glumes c. 3 mm long, usually a dark red-brown	I. producta 11.
2. Spikelets 3-12 in a cluster	I. inundata 7.
1. Styles 3-fid.
4. Plant with a long creeping rhizome.
5. Slender perennial with numerous spikelets clustered in a dense globose head	I. nodosa 9.
5. Small annual with 1 or 2 spikelets per inflorescence	I. subtilissima 13.
4. Plant tufted or with a shortly ascending rhizome.
6. Glumes with a narrow-attenuate portion as long as the broad base	I. hystrix 6.
6. Glumes lacking a long attenuate portion.
7. Nut longitudinally striate and transversely ridged	I. hookeriana 5.
7. Nut smooth or minutely blistered.
8. Stamens 3.
9. Nut 0.5-0.6 mm long.
10. Nut dark-brown to black; spikelets 1 or rarely 2; glumes 1-1.5 mm long	I. platycarpa 10.
10. Nut straw-coloured; spikelets 1-3; glumes 0.8-1.2 mm long	I. australiensis 1.
9. Nut 0.9-1.5 mm long.
11. Glumes obtuse	I. cernua 2.
11. Glumes acute	I. marginata 8.
8. Stamens 1 or 2.
12. Nut 0.4-0.6 mm long.
13. Glumes 1.2-2 mm long	I. congrua 3.
13. Glumes 0.8-1.2 mm long	I. australiensis 1.
12. Nut 0.7-1.5 mm long.
14. Glumes with the broad keel produced into a stout mucro; spikelets usually 3	I. stellata 12.
14. Glumes mucronulate or with the obvious keel not produced at all; spikelets 1-12.
15. Dried specimens not smelling like curry	I. inundata 7.
15. Dried specimens smelling like curry	Cyperus hamulosus 16.

Author: Not yet available