Scleria oligantha
Scleria verticillata
littlehead nutrush
low nutrush, low nutsedge
usually in tufts, erect, slender, 30–60(–70) cm, sometimes appearing weak, glabrous or hairy.
solitary or in tufts, erect, slender, (7–) 10–60 cm, glabrous.
proximal sheaths purple tinged, the distal rosy red-tinged, usually narrowly winged, ribbed, pubescent or glabrous;
contra-ligules ovate;
blades linear, ribbed, shorter than or equaling culms, 2–6 mm wide, glabrous or ciliate to scabrous.
sheaths green or streaked with purple, smooth or weakly ribbed, usually narrowly winged, long-villous;
contra-ligules minute;
blades linear or filiform, plane or keeled, shorter than culms, 0.5–2 mm wide, glabrous.
axillary and terminal, of 2–5 small clusters, 5–20 × 5–10 mm, each with 1–4 spikelets; the lateral on reddish filiform peduncles dilated toward apex, hairy or scabrous on angles;
bracts subtending inflorescence leaflike, linear-lanceolate, 3–10 cm, glabrous or ciliate.
terminal, glomerate-spicate, 2.5–13 cm;
glomerules 2–9, erect, brown, compact, 3–7 mm wide, each with 5–12(–15) spikelets;
proximal glomerules occasionally on short, erect peduncles;
rachis glabrous;
bracts subtending inflorescence bristlelike, minutely ciliate or glabrous, inconspicuous.
bisexual and staminate, staminate part frequently reduced in bisexual spikelets, purple tinged, 3–8 mm; staminate scales lanceolate; pistillate scales ovate, acuminate.
bisexual, alternate, often appearing cyclic or whorled, 2–3(–4) mm;
scales oblong-lanceolate.
white or grayish or grayish brown with dark longitudinal bands, ovoid, shorter than scales, 3–4 mm, smooth, shining, apex umbonate;
hypogynium golden brown, rather broad, base obtuse-trigonous, supporting 8–9 small, round or elongate, granulose-spiculose tubercles.
whitish or often gray or brownish or with dark interangular markings, trigonous-globose, 1–1.5(–1.9) mm, base trigonous, stipelike, short, narrowly constricted, and somewhat pitted or ribbed, apex distinctly mucronate, surface transversely tuberculate with quadrate ridges;
hypogynium obsolete, represented by narrow brownish ridge at base of achene.
Scleria oligantha
Scleria verticillata
Scleria oligantha sometimes extends from its typical wooded habitat to open areas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Scleria verticillata has very close affinities with S. hirtella and S. tenella Kunth. It is relatively wide-ranging, extending along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts and inland to the Great Lakes, where it remains a very distinct species. At its southern limit in the West Indies, it tends to merge with both S. hirtella and S. tenella, producing intermediate forms and blurring its specific boundaries.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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