[2] Other notable genera in tribe Schoeneae include Lepidosperma, Oreobolus, Costularia, Tetraria and Gahnia.

Its main diagnostic characters are its cuspidate spikelets and broad elliptic nutlets.

[1] S. loreus has spikelets and nutlets that are similar in form to those of S. cuspidatus, but the former species has inflorescences that are wider and longer than those of S. cuspidatus and its leaves are usually relatively wide, non-channelled and flat compared to the more round-shaped leaves of S.

[1] However, S. riparius is a larger, more robust species with a longer, more dense inflorescence compared to S.

It appears that part of this problem is caused by the tendency of the southern African Schoenus to form hybrids with each other.