Carex maculata Boott APNI*
Description: Rhizome short; shoots densely tufted. Culms erect, trigonous, smooth, noded, 10–40 (occasionally to 70) cm long, c. 1 mm diam.
Leaves exceeding culms; blade 2–8 mm wide; sheath pale orange-brown, with thin portion red-dotted; ligule acute.
Inflorescence erect, narrow, 3–20 cm long, with spikes solitary at nodes; lowest involucral bracts exceeding inflorescence. Spikes sessile or lowest pedicellate, upper contiguous, lowest distant, erect to spreading at maturity, 1–4 cm long; uppermost spike male, rarely androgynous; lower spikes female or occasionally with a few male flowers at the apex. Glumes acute to obtuse, red-brown to dark red-brown with green midrib; female glumes 2–3 mm long. Perigynia (utricles) ellipsoid to ovoid, strongly numerous-nerved, 2.3–3 mm long, 1.0–1.3 mm diam., minutely papillose, green-brown to dark red-brown; short beak c. 0.3 mm long, with apex notched or truncate. Anthers c. 2 mm long excluding appendage to 0.1 mm long. Style 3-fid.
Nut obovoid, trigonous in cross section, pale yellow.
Flowering: spring–summer.
Distribution and occurrence: North along the coast from lower Grose Valley (CC). Grows in wet places in rainforest to swamp-forest.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC
Other Australian states: Qld
Text by K. L. Wilson (1993); edited KL Wilson (Aug 2016) Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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