太鲁阁薹草 tai lu ge tai cao

Rhizome short, without stolons. Culms 60-90 cm tall, rather thick, triquetrous, smooth, clothed with red-brown and bladeless sheaths. Leaves shorter or slightly longer than culm, blades 7-12 mm wide, flat, slightly stiff, puberulent on lower surface, sheathed. Involucral bracts leaflike, longer than subtending spike, lower involucral bracts shortly sheathed, upper involucral bracts nearly not sheathed. Spikes 4, rather congregate at top of culm or lowermost spike slightly remote; terminal spike male, sublinear, 7-10 cm, shortly pedunculate; remaining spikes female, cylindric, 6-10 cm, slightly loosely many flowered, sometimes with few male flowers, lowest spike pedunculate, upper spikes nearly sessile. Female glumes pale, slightly purple-red laterally, ovate, ca. 3.5 mm (including ca. 2.3 mm awn), membranous, 3-veined, apex obtuse, long aristate, scabrous on margins of awn. Utricles brownish green, obliquely patent, slightly longer than glume, elliptic, subinflated trigonous, ca. 4 mm, membranous, glabrous, purple-red puncticulate, many veined, base cuneate, apex abruptly attenuate into a long beak, beak scabrous on margins, truncate at orifice. Nutlets loosely enveloped, ovate, trigonous, ca. 2 mm; style base slightly thickened; stigmas 3.

Dense forests. Taiwan [Japan].