TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

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. pungens Vahl

COMMON THREESQUARE

Perennial 20–200 cm; rhizome long
Stems erect to strongly arched, 2–6 mm wide in middle, sharply 3-angled; sides flat to ± concave
Leaves ± basal, ± 1/2 to = stem; blades 2–6, generally > sheaths, ± flat to subcylindric below, subcylindric above, glabrous or minutely scabrous near tip
Inflorescence head-like; spikelets 1–5(10), 7–13 mm, 4–5 mm wide; main bract 3–11(20) cm, generally erect, ± stem-like, next bract 5–12 mm; flower bract 3.5–5 mm, glabrous, orange- to dark red-brown, margin short-woolly, tip notch ± 0.5–1 mm, awn 0.5–1.5 mm, ± straight or tip contorted
Flower: perianth bristles generally 2–7, generally 1/2 to = fruit; stigmas 3
Fruit ± 2–3.5 mm, obtusely 3-angled, ± compressed, smooth, dark brown
Ecology: Marshes, lake shores
Elevation: < 2000 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast, Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Central Western California, South Coast, Great Basin Floristic Province, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: N.America, S.America, Europe, s Pacific
Flowering time: May–Aug
Synonyms: S. americanus var. longispicatus Britton
Recent taxonomic note: *Schoenoplectus pungens (Vahl) Palla
Horticultural information: STBL.