Scleria lacustris
Scleria reticularis
lakeshore nutrush
netted nutrush, netted nutsedge
mostly solitary or few together, stout, 60–180 cm, strongly retrorsely scabrous.
solitary or in tufts, erect or spreading, slender, (6–)15–50 cm, glabrous or hairy.
proximal sheaths purplish, winged, strongly ribbed, sparsely pubescent;
contra-ligule triangular;
blades linear, M-shaped in cross section, shorter than culms, 10–25 mm wide, glabrous, retrorsely scabrous on midrib, mid lateral veins, and margins.
sheaths often purple-tinged at base, sometimes somewhat winged, ribbed, glabrous or densely pubescent;
contra-ligules rotund-obtuse, short;
blades linear, flat, often ribbed, obtuse, shorter than or equaling culm, 1–3.5 mm wide, glabrous or occasionally margins and veins abaxially scabrous.
axillary 2–4, terminal 1, stalked panicles, open paniculate, terminal panicle 7–14 cm with numerous short fascicles 4–8 mm wide, of 2–5 spikelets;
bracts subtending inflorescence leaflike, broadly attenuate, ± equaling inflorescence, antrorsely scabrous.
axillary and terminal, paniculate;
panicles compact, 8–25 mm, lateral clusters sessile or on short erect peduncles to 20(–90) mm;
bracts subtending inflorescence leaflike, distalmost lateral bract 3/4 as long as to exceeding terminal internode.
bisexual and staminate, few flowered, 3.8–5 mm;
staminate scales narrowly ovate, pistillate scales purple with prominent green keel, broadly ovate, abruptly acuminate.
bisexual or unisexual;
staminate spikelets 2–3 mm, pistillate spikelets 3–4(–5) mm;
staminate scales lanceolate;
pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate.
greenish to whitish or sometimes mottled gray, shiny, rounded-trigonous to ± circular, ovoid, 3.4–3.8 × 2.3–2.8 mm, smooth, apex rounded;
hypogynium whitish to pale brown, bluntly 3-angled, low.
gray or brownish and/or with dark interangular lines and little pubescence, globose to ovoid, 1.5–2 mm, apex umbonate, surface reticulate to completely smooth, somewhat verrucose in some forms, reticulations pubescent with tufts of yellowish hairs;
hypogynium distinctly 3-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, apex obtuse, sometimes emarginate.
Scleria lacustris
Scleria reticularis
Scleria lacustris is adventive in Florida and was first collected in 1988. It has since been found in additional sites and is becoming locally common (C. C. Jacono 2001). The plant is a coarse sprawling annual that appears to have the potential to be a serious invasive in warmer parts of Florida.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Scleria reticularis is a smaller plant and less widely distributed than S. muehlenbergii. In addition to the difference noted in the key, S. reticularis differs from S. muehlenbergii in having the lobe of the hypogynium obtuse and emarginate at the apex rather than obtuse to acute, the terminal internode of the stem usually 3–8 cm rather than 6–30 cm, and scales of pistillate flowers mostly 3–4 mm rather than 4–5 mm.
Scleria reticularis is a relatively uniform species throughout its restricted range. It does not occur outside of the United States and is infrequent in the southern portion of its range. The key characters used to separate S. reticularis from S. muehlenbergii apply only to temperate collections.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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