Cyperus oxylepis |
Cyperus gracilis |
|
---|---|---|
sharpscale flatsedge |
slimjim flatsedge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, cespitose, coarse, (culms, leaves, bracts, and rays viscid). | Herbs, annual or perennial. |
Culms | roundly trigonous, 10–50 cm × 0.9–2.4 mm. |
weak, often arching, basally culmlike, weakly 4(–5)-angled, 10–30 cm × 0.2–0.4 mm, glabrous. |
Leaves | adaxial face concave, becoming flat to trigonous apically, 10–46 cm × 1.5–4 mm, margins involute. |
1–4, 3–25 cm × 1–1.5 mm. |
Inflorescences | spikes ovoid, 1–5.5 cm wide; rays usually 3–6, 0.5–5 cm, glabrous; sometimes absent in small plants; if absent, inflorescence a congested head of spikelets 1–3.5 cm diam.; 2d order rays 0–3, 1–3 cm; bracts 3–5, vertical to ascending at 45°, 2.5–25 cm × 1.2–4 mm, margins involute; 2d order bracts 0–2, 5–20 mm; rachilla persistent, wingless. |
rays absent, often proliferous; bracts 2–4, longest erect, looking like continuation of culm, V-shaped, 3–6 cm × 1–3 mm. |
Spikelets | 5–24, greenish yellow to golden brown, oblong to linear-lanceoloid, quadrangular, strongly compressed, 7–20(–30) × 2.5–4(–6) mm; floral scales 10–20(–40), spreading, pale green to stramineous, laterally 2–3-ribbed, ovate-lanceolate, 3.1–4 × 1.5–2.4 mm, apex with mucro 0.2–0.8 mm. |
1–3(–6), narrowly ellipsoid, weakly compressed, 5–10 × 2 mm; floral scales 8–16, laterally whitish or dull stramineous, medially green, weakly 3–4-ribbed, broadly ovate, 2.5 × 2 mm, apex acute to mucronate, mucro slightly excurved, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
Flowers | anthers 0.6–0.8 mm; styles 0.8–1.6 mm; stigmas 1–1.4 mm. |
stamens 3; styles 0.8 mm; stigmas 1–1.3 mm. |
Achenes | light to dark brown, rarely somewhat reddish, stipitate, ellipsoid, 2–2.4 × 0.5–0.8 mm, base cuneate, stipe whitish, spongy, 0.2–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm, apex acute, persistent style forming beak 0.5–1.2 mm, surfaces glabrous or finely papillose. |
brown, stipitate, obovoid, abaxial angle more prominent than adaxial ones, 0.7 × 0.7 mm, apex emarginate, surfaces glabrous. |
Cyperus oxylepis |
Cyperus gracilis |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer. | Fruiting summer–early fall. |
Habitat | Ditches and disturbed places in marshes, often in saline soil | Disturbed, moist areas |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX; Mexico; South America [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; Australia [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Cyperus oxylepis is easily recognized by its sticky leaves, culms, and bracts (in living plants), involute leaves,and golden brown spikelets. The ovate-lanceolate floral scales and the ellipsoid, brownish achene with a persistent beak distinguish C. oxylepis from other species with deciduous floral scales. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Carex gracilis comprises diminutive plants with a delicate, arching habit and distinctive knoblike angles to the achenes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 171. | FNA vol. 23. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Cyperus | Cyperaceae > Cyperus > subg. Pycnostachys |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Nees ex Steudel: Syn. Pl. Glumac. 2: 25. (1855) | R. Brown: Prodr., 213. (1810) |
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