Carex cremnicola

Detailed description

Perennial herb, caespitose, tufts rigid, erect to spreading, often surrounded by persistent dead leaves. Culms 130–1280 × 1.0–2.5 mm, spreading, trigonous, edges smooth, sometimes faintly scabrid on one edge becoming harsher distally, longer than leaves when mature. Leaves 145–795 × 2.0–6.0 mm; leaf sheaths brown, nerves distinct; leaf blades weakly double-folded or channelled, yellow-green to green; leaf margins harshly scabrid; keel and adaxial secondary veins scabrid towards apex; apex trigonous, scabrid, acuminate. Inflorescence of (3)–4–7–(8) male, androgynous, and female spikes; spikes usually borne singly at nodes, occasionally female and male spikes compound; spikes terminally congested, sessile and erect, becoming more distant, peduncled and drooping below (in high altitude plants sometimes all sessile and erect); male spikes 12–86 × 1.0–3.0 mm, linear or clavate, cylindrical, brown, forming a congested terminal cluster of 2–5 spikes, including often small male spikes subtending larger male spikes; usually 1 or 2 androgynous spikes below the terminal male cluster; remaining lower spikes female 8.0–70 × 1.5–6.0 mm, oblong, occasionally clavate, cylindrical, red-brown. Lowermost inflorescence bract leaf-like (62)–200–450–(530) × 1.5–5.0 mm, longer than inflorescence. Male glumes 3.12–5.12 × 1.08–2.2 mm, red to red-brown, obovate-oblong, concavo-convex, subcoriaceous, mid-region 3-veined, green fading to white at maturity; margins membranous, but scabrid towards apex; apex entire or emarginate with a scabrid awn. Female glumes 2.0–4.3 × 0.9–1.8 mm, those with awns longer than or subequal to utricles (those without awns usually shorter than utricles), red-brown (flecked), ovate, concavo-convex, subcoriaceous, mid-region 3-veined, green fading to white; margins membranous but scabrid near apex; apex entire or emarginate with a prominent scabrid awn up to 1.2 mm long. Stamens 3, anthers 2.2–3.5 mm long. Utricles 2.0–3.5 × 0.8–2.0 mm, spreading at maturity, ovoid, elliptic or sometimes fusiform, trigonous, red to black above and white to yellow below, nerved on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces; stipe pale, tapered; beak prominent 0.3–1.0 mm long, narrowing to a bidentate apex with long scabrid crura; orifice scabrid and weakly oblique. Stigmas 3, 1.8–3.6 mm long. Achenes 1.0–2.0 × 0.8–1.3 mm, obovate or angled-obovate, trigonous, brown.