Scleria reticularis
Scleria pauciflora
netted nutrush, netted nutsedge
few-flower nutsedge, fewflower nutrush
solitary or in tufts, erect or spreading, slender, (6–)15–50 cm, glabrous or hairy.
usually in tufts, slender, (15–)20–50 cm, stiff, glabrous or hairy (villous or ciliate in some forms).
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 sometimes reddish, not or scarcely winged, weakly ribbed, short-pubescent or villous;
contra-ligules obtuse to triangular, short;
blades linear, channeled, obtuse, shorter than or equaling inflorescence, 1–2.5 mm wide, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes scabrous on margins.
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, 0.5–1.5 cm, fasciculate;
clusters 2–10 mm wide, each with 1–7 spikelets;
lateral clusters remote, on long filiform peduncles;
bracts subtending inflorescence leaflike, long awl-shaped, often appearing to be continuation of culm, glabrous or ciliate.
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, 3–6 mm; staminate scales lanceolate, membranous, pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, acuminate.
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.
white or gray and/or with black markings, globose or rarely ovoid, 1–2.5(–3) mm, base narrowly constricted, trigonous, apex umbonate, papillate-verrucose, proximal papillae elongate, retrorse, spiculose;
hypogynium brownish, bluntly trigonous border, bearing 6 globose tubercles arranged in distinct pairs, usually finely powdery.
Scleria reticularis
Scleria pauciflora
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.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Scleria ciliata and S. pauciflora are almost universally regarded as distinct species, even though some authors allude to the existence of varying numbers of transitional specimens. Distinguishing them in the herbarium can sometimes be difficult. Some specimens of S. ciliata have the three tubercles on the hypogynium sufficiently deeply bilobed as to make them difficult to distinguish from the paired, discrete tubercles of S. pauciflora. Achene size and leaf width can be helpful with these problematic specimens. Among recent authors, only R. McVaugh (1993) united S. pauciflora and S. ciliata. The western Mexican specimens studied by McVaugh that prompted his uniting of these two species appear, on closer examination, not to be either intermediate between or clearly referable to either species. Detailed study of tropical material similar to S. pauciflora and S. ciliata is much needed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants glabrous or sparsely to densely hairy but not copiously villous-ciliate, hairs not longer than 0.4 mm. | var. pauciflora |
1. Plants copiously villous-ciliate with spreading hairs 0.5–1 mm on culms, leaves, and bracts. | var. caroliniana |
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