Scleria reticularis
Scleria triglomerata
netted nutrush, netted nutsedge
whip nutrush, whip nutsedge
solitary or in tufts, erect or spreading, slender, (6–)15–50 cm, glabrous or hairy.
usually in tufts, stout, 40–100 cm, glabrous, somewhat scabrous distally.
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 purplish, not winged, pilose or glabrous;
contra-ligules ovate, rarely trigonous;
blades linear, ribbed, shorter than culms, 3–9 mm wide, rigid, margins and midrib scabrous, sometimes slightly pubescent.
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 and axillary, fasciculate;
fascicles 3, 15–40 × 5–15 mm, each with (1–) 3–10(–12) spikelets (smaller numbers in shade forms);
lateral peduncles erect, often becoming filiform and pendulous in deep shade forms;
bracts subtending inflorescence leaflike, lanceolate, 3–11 cm, long-acuminate-attenuate, ciliate or glabrous.
bisexual or unisexual; staminate spikelets 2–3 mm, pistillate spikelets 3–4(–5) mm; staminate scales lanceolate; pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate.
bisexual and staminate (sometimes reduced to few flowers in bisexual spikelets), brown, 3–9 mm; staminate scales ovate-mucronate to lanceolate-acuminate, pistillate scales ovate, midrib excurrent, often awnlike.
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.
sometimes grayish brown, sometimes with dark longitudinal bands, ovoid to subglobose, 2–3 mm, smooth, shining, apex obtuse;
hypogynium low, obscurely 3-angled, covered with whitish or brownish, siliceous, papillose-spiculose crust.
Scleria reticularis
Scleria triglomerata
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 triglomerata is by far the most common and widespread species of Scleria in the flora region. It exhibits considerable ecologic amplitude, growing in shady woods to open pinelands. Past authors have sometimes separated the species into several, recognizing S. nitida and S. flaccida. Plants that fit all the characteristics of the segregates seem distinctive; apparent intermediates occur.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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