Kobrésie simple

Carex simpliciuscula Wahlenberg, Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 24: 141. 1803

Culms 5–35 cm. Leaves: basal sheaths dull, base of blade usually persistent; blades ± channeled, 2–20 cm × 0.2–1.5(–2) mm. Inflorescences usually compound, (8–) 10–35 × (2–)3–8 mm; bracts brown, margins hyaline, ovate to oblong-ovate; proximal spikelets 1-flowered and pistillate or 2-flowered and androgynous; terminal and distal spikelets 1-flowered, staminate. Scales brown, ovate, 2–3 mm, margins hyaline, midvein distinct almost to tip, apex obtuse to subacute. Anthers 1–2 mm. Perigynia brown, 2.5–3.2 mm, margins free to base, smooth. Achenes 2–3 mm. 2n = 70–75.

Fruiting summer. Fens, marshes, mesic to wet tundra, gravels, rocky slopes, usually on calcareous substrates; 0–3500 m; Greenland; Alta., B.C., Man., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Yukon; Alaska, Colo., Idaho, Oreg., Utah, Wyo.; Eurasia.