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fiberoptic grass, low bulrush, low clubrush, low lateral clubrush, tuft clubrush

keel bulrush, keel club rush

Habit Plants annual (or perennial?); rhizomes usually obscured by culm bases and very short, sometimes vertical and elongated. Plants annual; rhizomes absent.
Culms

4–40 cm × 0.2–0.5 mm.

1–25 cm × 0.2–0.3 mm.

Leaves

sometimes sparsely orange-punctate at 10–15X;

sheaths usually reddish proximally;

distal blade rudimentary to much longer than sheath, often exceeding culm, to 20 cm × 0.2–1 mm.

sheaths green to stramineous or brown;

distal blade mostly much longer than sheath, to 5 cm × 0.2–0.5 mm.

Inflorescences

involucral bract 1, sometimes subtending flower or resembling enlarged floral scale, 2–6(–23) mm.

involucral bract 1, 5–25(–33) mm.

Spikelets

2–5 × 1–2 mm;

scales partly or completely dark orange to red-brown, rarely stramineous, midrib greenish to stramineous, not gibbous, obscurely to prominently 3–11-veined, midrib keeled near apex, membranous, hyaline, apex rounded to acute, with mucro less than 0.1 mm;

proximal scale to 2 mm;

other scales 1.2–1.8 × 1–1.3 mm.

1–10 × 1.5–2 mm;

scales stramineous to pale orangish, midrib region often greenish, markedly gibbous, prominently to obscurely veined, midrib keeled, finely reticulate at 20X, membranous, hyaline, apex rounded, awned;

proximal scale to 2.5(–5) mm, awn to 2 mm;

other scales 1.8–2 × 1–1.2 mm, awn 0.2–0.5 mm.

Flowers

anthers 0.3–0.6 mm;

styles 3-fid or 3-fid and 2-fid.

anthers 0.2 mm;

styles 3-fid.

Achenes

falling separately from scales, medium to dark brown or stramineous, ellipsoid to obovoid, compressed-trigonous to thickly biconvex, lateral angles usually prominent, abaxial angle prominent to obscure, faces convex or adaxial face slightly concave, 0.8–1 × 0.5–0.7 mm, distinctly papillose at 10–15X to obscurely papillose at 40X, often with thin whitish surface layer.

often falling with and clasped by floral scales, dark orange-brown or often whitish, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid or outline subcircular, nearly equilaterally trigonous, faces concave, 1–1.5 × 0.7–1 mm, papillose at 10–15X, papillae in many vertical rows, often obscured by thin, minutely reticulate, whitish surface layer.

2n

= 30.

Isolepis cernua

Isolepis carinata

Phenology Fruiting late spring–winter (Pacific Coast), winter–spring (Texas). Fruiting spring.
Habitat Wet, freshwater to brackish places on beaches, dunes, marine bluffs, sandy areas, mostly coastal Wet, often drying, freshwater places in grasslands, rock barrens, open woods, lawns, cultivated fields, waste places
Elevation 0–800 m (0–2600 ft) 0–800 m (0–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; TX; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California); temperate South America; Eurasia; Africa; Australia; New Zealand
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; IL; KS; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Isolepis cernua is widespread and variable. Four varieties were recognized by A. M. Muasya and D. M. Simpson (2002). Only var. ceruna is known from North America. The earliest collection I have seen from the Pacific Coast is from 1888; the earliest collection I have seen from Texas is from 1974.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Isolepis carinata sometimes occurs in mixed populations with the very similar I. pseudosetacea.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 23, p. 139. FNA vol. 23, p. 138.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Isolepis Cyperaceae > Isolepis
Sibling taxa
I. carinata, I. pseudosetacea, I. setacea
I. cernua, I. pseudosetacea, I. setacea
Synonyms Scirpus cernuus, Scirpus cernuus var. californicus, Scirpus cernuus subsp. californicus I. koilolepis, Scirpus carinatus, Scirpus koilolepis
Name authority (Vahl) Roemer & Schultes: in J. J. Roemer et al., Syst. Veg. 2: 106. (1817) Hooker & Arnott ex Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 3: 349. (1836)
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