岩生薹草 yan sheng tai cao

Rhizome short, woody. Culms up to ca. 65 cm tall, rigid, trigonous, scabrous above. Leaves surpassing culm, blades broadly linear, 8-10 mm wide, upper margins scabrous, apex acuminate. Involucral bracts surpassing inflorescence, sheathing. Spikes 4, approximate; terminal spike male, linear-cylindric, 5.5-7 cm, with long peduncle; remaining 3 spikes mostly female, occasionally becoming androgynous with male part ca. 1/6 length of female part, cylindric, 6-7.5 × ca. 1 cm, densely flowered, peduncles exserted. Female glumes pale yellow, elliptic-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5.5-6 mm, membranous, hispid, green 3-veined costa excurrent into a short awn ca. 2 mm. Utricles shorter than glume, obliquely patent, ovate-lanceolate, 7.5-8 mm, sparsely hispid, many veined, base cuneate, apex gradually narrowed into a scabrous long beak 2-3 mm, orifice 2-lobed with short teeth. Nutlets tightly enveloped, broadly elliptic-rhomboid, ca. 4 mm, trigonous with angles constricted at middle, faces concave at base, apex abruptly contracted into a narrowly cylindric curved beak ca. 1 mm, beak expanding into a discoid-annulate orifice; style persistent, base thickened; stigmas 3. Fr. Dec.

● Dense forests, shady and moist places, rock crevices along valleys; 900-1100 m. Guangxi, Hainan (Dongfeng), Hunan.