Flora of North America species comparison

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Carex sect. Leucoglochin
Habit Plants cespitose or not, short to long rhizomatous.
Culms

pale brown at base.
Leaves

basal sheaths not fibrous;

sheath fronts membranous;

blades V-shaped in cross section when young, glabrous.
Inflorescence

1 spike per culm;

bracts absent;

spike androgynous.
Perigynia

at first erect, becoming deflexed, obscurely veined, very obliquely substipitate, lance-subulate to narrowly elongate-oblong, almost round in cross section, base tapered and spongy, apex tapering gradually to beak, glabrous;

beak less than 2 mm, orifice truncate.
Achenes

narrowly oblong or narrowly oblong-lanceoloid, trigonous with sides concave proximally, much smaller than bodies of perigynia;

style persistent.
Proximal

pistillate scales soon deciduous, less than 10 mm, shorter than perigynium, apex obtuse or subacute.
Stigmas

3.

Carex sect. Leucoglochin
Distribution
Widespread in arctic; boreal; and alpine regions of North America and Eurasia; w and s South America; c Asia
Discussion

Species 5 or 6 (2 in the flora).

Members of Carex sect. Leucoglochin are further characterized by pistillate scales that fall very early.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Perigynia 3.4–4.7 mm (excluding rachilla); rachilla exserted 0.5–2.8 mm from orifice of beak, exceeding style, style not exserted; pistillate scales (except the proximal) 2.4–3 mm; proximal leaves blade-bearing.
C. microglochin
1. Perigynia (5–)5.9–7.8 mm; rachilla vestigial, style exserted; pistillate scales 3.7–5.9 mm; proximal leaves bladeless.
C. pauciflora
Source FNA vol. 23. Author: Theodore S. Cochrane.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Carex
Subordinate taxa
C. microglochin, C. pauciflora
Synonyms C. section Orthocerates
Name authority Dumortier: Fl. Belg., 146. (1827)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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