TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE CYPERUS SUBGENUS CYPERUS IN IRAN

The genus Cyperus belongs to tribe Cypereae, subfamily Cyperoideae and family Cyperaceae that is the largest genus in this family after Carex. The classification of genus Cyperus is still unsettled because of morphological variations and therefore, makes determination of subgenera boundaries and species difficult. In Flora Iranica (KUKKONEN 1998) this genus was divided to six subgenera. In this research, taxonomic revision of subgenus Cyperus in Iran were studied. Out of 300 herbarium specimens (IRAN, TARI etc. Herbaria) and newly collected plants from different parts of the country, 10 species belonging to eight sections are identified. The results showed that, based on inflorescence type, this subgenus may be divided to three groups as follow: group 1 (C. bulbosus), group 2 (C. imbricatus, C. dives, C. glomeratus) and group 3 (C. longus, C. rotundus, C. serotinus, C. glaber, C. esculentus and C. malaccensis).