CYPERACEAE

SEDGE FAMILY

Raymond Cranfill, except as specified

Annual or perennial herb, often rhizomed, often of wet open places, generally monoecious; roots fibrous, hairy
Stem generally 3-sided
Leaves often 3-ranked; sheath generally closed; ligule generally 0; blade (0) various, parallel-veined
Inflorescence: spikelets variously clustered; flowers generally sessile in axil of flower bract
Flower small, generally wind-pollinated; perianth 0 or bristle-like; stamens generally 3, anthers attached at base, 4-chambered; ovary superior, 1-chambered, 1-ovuled, style 2–3-branched
Fruit: achene, generally 3-sided
Genera in family: ± 110 genera, 3600 species: worldwide, especially temp
Reference: [Tucker 1987 J Arnold Arbor 68:361–445]
Difficult: taxa differ in technical characters of inflorescence and fruit.

BULBOSTYLIS

Annual or perennial herb, cespitose
Stem slender, round, ridged and grooved, solid
Leaves several, basal, thread-like to linear, folded or upcurled
Inflorescence: spikelet clusters terminal, panicle-like; flower bracts spiraled, deciduous
Flowers bisexual; perianth bristles 0; stamens generally 3; style 3-branched at tip, base bulb-like, persistent
Fruit 3-sided; cells generally vertically elongate; top tubercled
Species in genus: ± 120 species: worldwide
Etymology: (Latin: bulb-like style)
Reference: [Kral 1971 Sida 4:57–227]

Native

B. capillaris (L.) C.B. Clarke

Annual < 3 dm
Stem generally >> leaf
Leaf: sheath margin wide, tan, generally fringed near tip; blade < 0.5 mm wide
Inflorescence: spikelets generally long-peduncled, fusiform, generally few-flowered; fruiting flower bracts dark reddish brown, midrib prominent, greenish
Fruit ± 1 mm, ± pale brown; angles ridged; tubercle ± round
Chromosomes: 2n=72
Ecology: Meadows, grassy clearings
Elevation: > 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: c High Sierra Nevada (Mariposa, Tuolumne cos.)
Distribution outside California: to e N.America, Caribbean, C.America; also e Asia
Synonyms: Fimbristylis c. (L.) A. Gray