6.3. Epischoenus and allies

Epischoenus C.B.Clarke (Fig. 2C, H) is a small genus of eight species endemic to the CFR that is also part of the Schoeneae tribe (Goetghebeur, 1998; Manning and Goldblatt, 2012; Viljoen et al., 2013). Apart from M.R. Levyns (Leighton et al., 1947; Levyns, 1959), little taxonomic attention has been given to Epischoenus since the formation of the genus by C.B.Clarke. Browning and Gordon-Gray (1995) compared the spikelet morphology of Epischoenus to Schoenus and made the assertion that the two genera should be treated as one, instead of Epischoenus having separate endemic African status. In addition, they noted that the current species delimitation in Epischoenus is not acceptable and the entire genus should be revised. Phylogenetic data (Viljoen et al. 2013) confirm Epischoenus to be close to Schoenus and embedded in Tetraria (Fig. 1). Based on preliminary examination of herbarium specimens, we concur that a revision of all Epischoenus species is required, as the current available keys do not allow unambiguous identification of taxa (see Levyns, 1959), and there is a large amount of variation in the different morphotypes included within several of the species. We anticipate that there are between three and seven new species within the clade currently named Epischoenus.