少花穗莎草 shao hua sui suo cao

Perennials, stoloniferous. Culms single or laxly tufted, 10-50 cm tall, apically 3-angled to triquetrous, smooth. Leaves shorter than to equaling culm; leaf blade 0.5-4 mm wide, basally folded, apically becoming flat. Involucral bracts 3-5, leaflike, longer than inflorescence, spreading or longest erect. Inflorescences capitate, conic to globose, 5-10 mm in diam., with 5-30 spikelets. Spikelets ovoid to ± narrowly ovoid, 4-10 × 3-4 mm, slightly compressed, 3- or 4-flowered; rachilla wingless. Glumes yellowish brown tinged with dark brown, densely imbricate, ovate, 3-4 × ca. 2 mm, leathery, 3-5-veined and green, midvein scabrid, margin pale, apex acute and mucronate. Stamens 3; anthers linear, 1-1.5 mm; connective apex not prolonged beyond anthers. Style 3-4 mm, gradually widened to a 3-angled or winged base; stigmas 3, much shorter than style. Nutlet ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, 1/3-1/2 as long as subtending glume, 3-sided, dorsiventrally flattened, scabrid angled, with spongy base of style extending downward along angles of nutlet, apex acute and beaklike. Fl. and fr. ?summer.

Lakes and rivers, rooted on floating mats of Pistia, Salvinia, and decayed water plants; near sea level. Fujian (Xiamen) [India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; NE Australia, Indian Ocean islands].