Eriocaulaceae

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Eriocaulaceae

Eriocaulon decangulare

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Poales
Family:	Eriocaulaceae Desv.

Genera

See text.

The Eriocaulaceae or pipewort family is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the order Poales. The family is large, with about 1,150-1,200 species described in ten genera. The family is widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical regions, particularly the Americas. Very few species extend to temperate regions, with e.g. only 16 species in the United States, mostly in the southern states from California to Florida, only two species in Canada, and only one species (Eriocaulon aquaticum) in Europe. They tend to be associated with wet soils, many growing in shallow water.

The species are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, though some are annual plants; they resemble plants in the related families Cyperaceae (sedges) and Juncaceae (rushes), and like them, have rather small, wind-pollinated flowers grouped together in capitulum-like inflorescences.