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.

SCIRPUS

S. Galen Smith, A.E. Schuyler, and William J. Crins

Annual or perennial herb, rhizomed or not; roots fibrous
Stem generally erect, 3-angled or cylindric, solid
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate, 3-ranked; sheaths closed; ligule 0 or present; blades linear, sometimes vestigial and scale-like
Inflorescence panicle- or head-like; bracts 1–several, leaf- or ± stem-like; spikelets 1–many, generally many-flowered; flower bracts spiraled, generally ovate, scale-like
Flower bisexual; perianth bristles generally < and hidden by flower bracts, generally ± straight, generally slender, generally stiff, generally persistent on fruit, generally finely spined or fringed, sometimes 0 or vestigial; stamens generally 3; style 1, ribbon- or thread-like, stigmas 2–3, generally exserted
Fruit: achene, generally obovoid, lenticular or ± 2–3-angled, generally beaked, not tubercled
Species in genus: ± 200 species: generally wet sites, worldwide. Some species mistaken for Eleocharis
Recent taxonomic note: *CA plants treated as Amphiscirpus, Bolboschoenus, Isolepis, Schoenoplectus, Trichophorum [Browning et al. 1995 Brittonia 47:433–445; Smith 1995 Novon 5:97–102]

Native

S. congdonii Britton

Perennial 30–50 cm; rhizome ± short
Stems erect, solitary or ± clustered, 2–4 mm wide in middle, ± 3-angled
Leaves basal and cauline; sheaths prominent; blades generally < or = sheaths, flat, glabrous, midrib and margins scabrous
Inflorescence panicle-like; spikelets 20–many, generally in head-like clusters of 5–15 at branch tips, 2.5–6 mm, 1–2.5 mm wide; longest bract 1.5–4 cm, ascending to erect, leaf-like; flower bract 1.5–3 mm, glabrous, dark brown to blackish, midrib pale, tip acuminate to short-pointed
Flower: perianth bristles 6, < 4 mm, contorted, fragile; teeth above middle sparse, ascending
Fruit ± 2 mm, 3-angled, smooth
Ecology: Meadows, marshes, streambanks
Elevation: 600–3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, North Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Modoc Plateau
Distribution outside California: s Oregon
Horticultural information: IRR, DRN, SUN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; DFCLT.