Flora of North America species comparison

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Carex sect. Squarrosae
Habit Plants cespitose or colonial, short to long rhizomatous.
Culms

brown or red-brown at base.
Leaves

basal sheaths not fibrous;

sheath fronts membranous;

blades septate-nodulose, usually V-shaped in cross section when young, usually glabrous.
Inflorescences

single spike or racemose, with 2–9 spikes;

proximal bracts leaflike or threadlike, sheathless or sheath longer than diameter of stem, at least 3 times as long as inflorescence;

lateral spikes pistillate or infrequently gynecandrous, larger spikes usually with more than 50 perigynia, pedunculate, prophyllate;

terminal spike staminate or gyncecandrous.
Perigynia

ascending to spreading, many-veined, sessile or shortly stipitate, inflated, obconic, round in cross section, not more than 10 mm, base tapering or rounded-tapering, apex truncate, abruptly beaked, glabrous;

beak 1.2–3.8, bidentate, teeth 0.3 mm or longer.
Achenes

trigonous, 1.2–3 mm, smaller than bodies of perigynia;

style persistent or deciduous.
Proximal

pistillate scales sometimes with narrow, indistinct body, apex obtuse to awned.
Stigmas

3.

Carex sect. Squarrosae
Distribution
Temperate regions of e and mid w North America and temperate South America
Discussion

Species 4 (4 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Terminal spike largely staminate; pistillate scales with long awns, exceeding perigynia bodies; achenes 1.2–2.1 mm.
→ 2
1. Terminal spike gynecandrous; pistillate scales with short awns or awnless, completely hidden by perigynia; achenes 2–3 mm.
→ 3
2. Pistillate scales with narrow, indistinct body, 0.1–0.4 mm wide; staminate scales linear, 0.3–0.8 mm wide, loosely, irregularly imbricated with tips spreading; plants cespitose, not colonial, short-rhizomatous.
C. frankii
2. Pistillate scales with wider, translucent body, 0.4–0.9(–1.1) mm wide; staminate scales lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or oblong-obovate, 0.9–1.6 mm wide, ± tightly imbricate in spike; plants not cespitose, colonial, long-rhizomatous.
C. aureolensis
3. Style persistent, sinuous; achenes 1.9–2.5 times as long as wide; spikes 1–2(–3) per stem; pistillate portion of spike ovate to oblong; perigynia widely radiating, the proximal reflexed; beak usually smooth.
C. squarrosa
3. Style deciduous, straight; achenes 1.2–1.9 times as long as wide; spikes (1–)2–4(–6) per stem; pistillate portion of spike oblong to elliptic; perigynia, including the proximal, appressed-ascending; beak often sparingly scabrous.
C. typhina
Source FNA vol. 23. Authors: Bruce A. Ford, A. A. Reznicek.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Carex
Subordinate taxa
C. aureolensis, C. frankii, C. squarrosa, C. typhina
Name authority J. Carey: Carices North. U.S., 564. (1847)
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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