Scleria reticularis
Scleria verticillata
netted nutrush, netted nutsedge
low nutrush, low nutsedge
solitary or in tufts, erect or spreading, slender, (6–)15–50 cm, glabrous or hairy.
solitary or in tufts, erect, slender, (7–) 10–60 cm, glabrous.
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 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, 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, 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 or unisexual; staminate spikelets 2–3 mm, pistillate spikelets 3–4(–5) mm; staminate scales lanceolate; pistillate scales ovate-lanceolate, apex acuminate.
bisexual, alternate, often appearing cyclic or whorled, 2–3(–4) mm;
scales oblong-lanceolate.
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.
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 reticularis
Scleria verticillata
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 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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