{{Short description|Family of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Eriocaulon decangulare (1832).jpg |image_caption = ''Eriocaulon decangulare''<br />1832 illustration<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meemelink.com/prints%20pages/16604.Eriocaulaceae%20-%20Eriocaulon%20decangulare.htm|title=From: Curtis's botanical magazine; or flower garden displayed. London, 1832, volume 59 (plate 3126).|access-date=2014-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023103820/http://www.meemelink.com/prints%20pages/16604.Eriocaulaceae%20-%20Eriocaulon%20decangulare.htm|archive-date=2006-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> |taxon = Eriocaulaceae |authority = Martinov<ref name=APGIII2009>{{Cite journal |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2009 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x |doi-access=free |hdl=10654/18083 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> |subdivision_ranks = Genera |subdivision = 8; see text |subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>{{cite web |title=Eriocaulaceae Martinov |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30000867-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=10 April 2026}}</ref> }}
The '''Eriocaulaceae''' are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the order Poales, commonly known as the '''pipewort family'''. The family is large, with about 1207 known species<ref name="Christenhusz-Byng2016">{{cite journal |author1=Christenhusz, M. J. M. |author2=Byng, J. W. | year = 2016 | title = The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase | journal = Phytotaxa | volume = 261 | pages = 201–217 | url = http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598 | doi = 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 | issue = 3 | publisher = Magnolia Press | doi-access = free |bibcode=2016Phytx.261..201C }}</ref> described in eight genera.<ref name = powo/> They are 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 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. This is also reported from the Western Ghats hot spot in the southern part of India.
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.
==Genera== Eight genera are currently accepted.<ref name = powo/> *''Comanthera'' {{small|L.B.Sm.}} *''Eriocaulon'' {{small|L.}} – pipewort *''Leiothrix'' {{small|Ruhland}} *''Mesanthemum'' {{small|Körn.}} *''Monosperma'' {{small|(Hensold) Andrino}} *''Paepalanthus'' {{small|Mart.}} (synonyms ''Actinocephalus'', ''Lachnocaulon'' (bogbutton), and ''Tonina'') *''Rondonanthus'' {{small|Herzog}} *''Syngonanthus'' {{small|Ruhland}}
==See also== *Delia Abbiatti
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/eriocaul.htm Eriocaulaceae] in [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213041459/http://delta-intkey.com/angio/ L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants.]
<gallery> Image:Eriocaulon decangulare.jpg|''Eriocaulon decangulare'' flowerhead </gallery>
{{Angiosperm families}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q131321}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Eriocaulaceae Category:Poales families