二峨薹草 er e tai cao

Rhizome thick and short, ligneous. Culms densely tufted, up to 85 cm tall, rather thin, trigonous, smooth, clothed with sheaths eventually disintegrating into fibers. Leaves basal, shorter than culm, blades 5-8 mm wide, smooth on both surfaces, scabrous on upper margins; sheaths brown, usually splitting. Involucral bracts sheathed, lower involucral bracts leaflike, upper involucral bracts sublinear, longer than spike. Spikes 6 or 7, remote at lower part and ± contiguous at upper part, androgynous, male part shorter than female part, narrowly cylindric, (2-)3-5 cm, sparsely many flowered; peduncle clothed in involucral bract sheath. Female glumes stramineous, lanceolate, 3-4 mm, membranous, 1-costate, apex acuminate, sometimes mucronate. Utricles stramineous, longer than glume, suberect, oblong-lanceolate, plano-convex, ca. 5 mm, membranous, glabrous, several veined, base gradually narrowed into a short stipe, apex gradually narrowed into a long beak, beak smooth on margins, rather long 2-toothed at orifice. Nutlets dark brown, tightly enveloped, elliptic, biconvex, ca. 2.5 mm, base shortly stipitate, apex mucronate; style base slightly thickened; stigmas 2. Fl. and fr. Jun-Jul.

● Roadsides. Sichuan (Er’e Shan).