Carex auceps

Detailed description

Large, caespitose plants, with shortly spreading, erect rhizomes. Mature culms (0.8)–1.2–2.0 m long, (0.6)–0.8–1.0 mm wide, glabrous, trigonous, greatly exceeding leaves, trailing; leaf sheaths up to 60 mm long, dark brown, prominently and deeply nerved, nerves concolorous with sheath. Leaves 4–12 per culm, 0.48–83 m long, 4.3–6.2 mm wide, deeply channelled, upright to spreading, curved, dark green; adaxial surface scabrid in distal portion, otherwise glabrous; abaxial surface keeled, keel ± scabrid, often diffusely so, sometimes nearly glabrous, rest of surface glabrous margin scabrid, apex acute, trigonous, scabrid. Spikes 90–400 mm long, 3–6 mm wide, linear, often curved and twisted; female florets proximal, 80–420 per spike; internodes up to 7 mm long at base, decreasing to 0.4 mm long (or sometimes less) above; male florets distal, 60–100 or more, imbricate. Spike sometimes subtended by a foliose bract; bract 90–112 mm long, 0.2–1.2 mm wide, capillary, channeled, margins and abaxial midrib scabrid, apex trigonous. Glumes persistent. Male glumes, imbricate, 3.0–5.1 mm long, 1.0–1.8 mm wide, lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, dark to light lustrous brown at maturity, midrib prominent, stramineous, with 1 central nerve, apex acute, margins membranous, entire, apices sometimes scabrid to ± lacerate. Filaments 3.6–5.0 mm long, pale brown; anthers, 1.2–1.8 mm long, yellow. Female glumes 3.4–5.3 mm long, 1.0–2.0 mm wide, ± equal in length to utricles, elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, dark to light lustrous brown at maturity, midrib prominent, with 1 central nerve, usually concolorous with rest of glume, sometimes stramineous, especially at distal portion of spike, apex acute to subacute, margins membranous, entire; lowest 1–2 glumes sometimes bearing foliose, slender (almost capillary), filiform awns up to 60 mm long, these mostly entire except for scabrid upper abaxial midrib and apex, apex trigonous. Utricles scarcely spreading when ripe, 4.8–5.3 mm long, 1.2–1.4 mm wide, plano-convex to convex, ovoid, glabrous, lustrous brown to dark brown, lateral nerves ± prominent, though not conspicuous, stipe and beak narrow, each 1.0–1.5 mm long; rachilla 7.0–9.2 mm long. Nuts 2.2–2.4 mm long, 1.0–1.2 mm wide, ovoid, light grey to silvery grey, papillate.