FAMILY-CYPERACEAE
The embryo has one cotyledon; flowers are typically trimerous, unisexual, or lack an envelope; the leaves are simple with parallel or arcuate venation. These are usually herbaceous plants; perennials have rhizomes, bulbs, or tuberous bulbs, while annuals have fibrous roots. Woody stems are found in agaves and members of the lily family; true trees are palms. There is no cambium in monocotyledons. Chemical compounds are responsible for certain characteristic properties of monocotyledons.
Mineral substances: In grasses and sedges, cell walls are often incrusted with silicic acid. Calcium oxalate is common in other families; the characteristic form of oxalate is in the form of bundles of raphides, enclosed in mucilage-filled cells (raphides are rare in dicotyledons), and other forms may also be present.
Saponins, predominantly steroid saponins, are frequently found. Polysaccharides, apart from starch, often accumulate in the form of fructans, mannans, or mucilage. Essential oils are rare, and if present in vegetative organs, they are found in individual cells (there are no glands); fragrant flowers contain traces of essential oils (in the epidermis). Alkaloids are frequently encountered. Polyphenols are found as flavonoids, and sometimes tannins from the pyrocatechol group; tannin is absent. Industrial tannins are unknown among monocotyledons. Rubber and resins are almost nonexistent.
As in grasses, the epidermis of leaves and stems is impregnated with silicic acid to a greater or lesser degree. Most species in this family are fodder plants with no medicinal significance. Essential oil has only been found in the rhizomes of some species (used in Arabic medicine); alkaloids are generally absent and have only been found in Carex brevicollis, which has been incorporated into medical practice.
Description of the plant:
A perennial herbaceous plant reaching 30–45 cm in height, with densely branched rhizomes and flattened, three-angled stems, growing in tufts. At the base, the stems are covered with brown sheaths, split into fibers. The leaves are long, linear, with three prominent veins, curled downward at the edges, glabrous. The stem bears 2–3 separate unisexual spikes in the axils of bracteal leaves with a developed blade. The pistillate flowers, lacking an envelope, are surrounded by a modified bract (a «sac») of reverse-ovoid or broadly elliptical shape, 5 mm long, membranous, yellow-green, almost glabrous, quickly transitioning into a wide, short, spread, two-toothed, rusty-tipped apex. The ovary has a style with three stigmas. The fruit is an achene. It fruits in May.
Habitat:
It grows in the European part of the region between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers and in the Caucasus, in meadows and light forests up to the subalpine zone.
Chemical composition and properties:
In Carex brevicollis and a closely related species Carex michelii Host., alkaloids have been found. In the first species, there is 0.8% in the leaves and up to 0.5% in the roots. The main alkaloid is brevicollin, an indole derivative; in the leaves, it constitutes 95% of the total alkaloids, whereas in the roots, it is only 50%. The plant is toxic to livestock and can cause abortion.
Medicinal use:
From Carex brevicollis, brevicollin hydrochloride — Brevicollini hydrochloridum — is obtained. Pharmacologically, it is similar to ergot preparations, i.e., it increases the contractile activity of the uterus. It is administered orally as a 3% solution in 20% alcohol, 30 drops. It is also injected intramuscularly, 2–4 ml of a 1% solution.