榄绿果薹草 lan lü guo tai cao

Rhizome rather thick and short, ligneous, with elongate and rather thick stolons. Culms loosely tufted, 45-95 cm tall, acutely triquetrous, slightly scabrous on angles, densely with many leaves at base. Leaves longer than culm, blades 8-18 mm wide, flat, with 2 distinct lateral veins, smooth on both surfaces, scabrous on margins, sheathed, basal sheaths usually dehiscent. Involucral bracts leaflike, longer than subtending spike, very shortly sheathed or nearly not sheathed. Spikes 5-7, usually congregate at top of culm; uppermost 1 or 2 spikes male, cylindric or narrowly cylindric, 3-7 cm, shortly pedunculate or nearly sessile; remaining spikes female, sometimes with few male flowers at apex, cylindric, 5-10 cm, lowermost spike sometimes with rather long peduncle, upper spikes with much shorter peduncle or nearly sessile. Female glumes at base of spike subovate, ca. 8.5 mm (including ca. 5 mm awn), apex with long awn, upper glumes oblong-lanceolate, 4-5 mm, apex attenuate or truncate, with a short awn or mucro, ferruginous, membranous, 1-3-veined. Utricles dark brown-green, nearly equaling glume, shorter than glume at base of spike, nearly horizontally patent at maturity, ovate, broadly ovate, or subobovate, inflated trigonous, ca. 4 mm, membranous, glabrous, several veined, transversely rugose and several tuberculate between veins, base broadly cuneate, apex abruptly contracted into a medium-sized to long or rather short beak, beak recurved, emarginate or shortly 2-toothed at orifice. Nutlets yellowish brown, rather loosely enveloped, elliptic or subobovate, trigonous, ca. 2 mm, densely tuberculate on surface, base very shortly stipitate, apex with recurved mucro; stigmas 3.

Marshes, wet areas; 1200-3000 m. Sichuan, Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India].