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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.

LIPOCARPHA

Gordon C. Tucker

Annual, glabrous
Stem ± erect, 1–20 cm
Leaves basal, 1–3
Inflorescence: bracts 1–3, leaf-like; spikelets 50–150, dense, spiralled, sessile, in dense, spheric to cylindric spikes; flower bracts spirally arranged, (0)1–2 per flower, 100–400 per spikelet, outer > inner, awned at tip, with 1 central green and 2 lateral whitish veins, margins reddish, inner bract translucent
Flower bisexual; perianth 0; stamens 1–3, anthers 0.2–0.3 mm; styles 2-branched
Fruit 3-angled to subcylindric, abruptly soft-pointed, bumpy or warty, brown
Etymology: (Greek: falling chaff, from translucent inner flower bract)
Reference: [Friedland 1941 Amer J Bot 28:855–861]

Native

L. occidentalis (A. Gray) G.C. Tucker


Stem 1–7 cm
Inflorescence: spikes 1–2, 2–5 mm, dense, generally ± spheric; outer flower bract lanceolate, body 0.5–0.8 mm, awn (0.5)1–1.5 mm; inner flower bract ± = fruit
Fruit 0.5–0.6 mm, widest at or just below tip, finely pitted, light brown; faces convex
Ecology: Wet soil
Elevation: 1200–1900 m.
Bioregional distribution: Outer North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Peninsular Ranges
Distribution outside California: to Washington
Synonyms: Hemicarpha o. A. Gray

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bioregional map for LIPOCARPHA%20occidentalis being generated
 


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