低矮薹草 di ai tai cao

Rhizome short. Culms densely tufted, 2-5 cm tall, subcylindric, smooth, brown and persistent sheathed at base. Leaves 3-5 × as long as culm, flat, blades 1-2 mm wide, soft or slightly stiff, loosely pubescent. Involucral bracts reddish brown, spathelike, with broad white hyaline margins at sheath mouth, involucral bract blades setaceous. Spikes 2-5, remote; terminal spike male, linear-cylindric, 1-1.4 cm, ca. 2 mm thick, many flowered; lateral spikes 1 or 2, female, ovate or oblong, 5-7 mm, loosely 2-7-flowered; peduncles short, enclosed in sheath or lowermost one slightly exserted; rachis tortuous. Female glumes red-brown laterally, green at middle, ovate, ca. 4 mm, 1-veined, margins broadly white hyaline, base enclosing rachis, apex acute. Utricles greenish, slightly shorter than glume, obovate-oblong, trigonous, 3-3.2 mm, membranous, loosely ferruginous punctate, densely pubescent, 2-veined laterally, not distinctly thinly veined, base abruptly contracted into a short stipe, apex subrounded and shortly beaked, beak purple-red, truncate at orifice. Nutlets dark brown at maturity, elliptic or obovate-oblong, trigonous, 2.5-3 mm, base attenuate into a short stipe, apex with bent short beak; style base slightly thickened; stigmas 3. Fl. and fr. May-Jun.

Pinus or Xylosma forests, sunny places on mountain slopes, mountains near the sea; 100-1000 m. Anhui, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanxi [Japan, Russia; Europe].

This species is cultivated in grasslands and used as feed for domestic animals.

Lower Taxa

• Carex humilis var. humilis
• Carex humilis var. scirrobasis (Kitagawa) Y. L. Chang & Y. L. Yang