Scleria reticularis
Scleria curtissii
netted nutrush, netted nutsedge
solitary or in tufts, erect or spreading, slender, (6–)15–50 cm, glabrous or hairy.
± in tufts, slender, 20–40 cm, glabrous or pilose.
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.
sheaths reddish, not winged, weakly ribbed, pilose;
contra-ligule obtuse to triangular, short;
blades channeled, shorter than or equaling inflorescence, 1–2 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose on margins and midvein abaxially.
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.
terminal cluster, sometimes with 1 or 2 axillary clusters, 0.4–1.5 cm × 2–8 mm;
lateral clusters remote on filiform peduncles;
bracts subtending inflorescence erect, short, appearing like continuation of culm, glabrous or sparsely pilose on margins and midvein abaxially.
bisexual or unisexual; staminate spikelets 2–3 mm, pistillate spikelets 3–4(–5) mm; staminate scales lanceolate; pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate.
bisexual or staminate, 2–5 mm; staminate scales lanceolate, margins scarious; pistillate scales broadly ovate-lanceolate, margins scarious, midvein green, excurrent.
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.
globose or ovoid, 2–3 mm, bluntly umbonate, surface distinctly reticulate, irregularly ridged toward apex, basal papillae reduced or absent, apex bluntly mucronate;
hypogynium with 6 rather confined tubercles arranged in pairs.
Scleria reticularis
Scleria curtissii
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.)
Scleria curtissii was reduced to a variety of S. pauciflora because of the existence in the mountains of Mexico of specimens with some features that appeared intermediate between the two species (J. E. Fairey 1969). The reticulated achenes and slender habit of this narrowly distributed entity, however, still appear striking and not especially similar to the Mexican plants. It is tentatively accorded specific rank here pending a thorough study of the systematics of those Mexican plants. The taxon has also been treated as S. ciliata var. curtissii (J. W. Kessler 1987; R. P. Wunderlin 1998).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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