清凉峰薹草 qing liang feng tai cao

Rhizome short, indurate. Culms tufted, 40-55 cm tall, slender, trigonous, smooth, covered at base by dark brown bladeless sheaths. Leaves shorter or longer than culm, blades 4-7 mm wide, flat, trabeculate, scabrid along distal margins. Involucral bracts setaceous, shorter than subtending spikes, sheath 0.5-2 cm. Spikes 4 or 5; terminal spike male, cylindric, clavate, 25-45 mm, with peduncle 1-2.5 cm; lateral spikes female, rather widely spaced, linear-cylindric, 25-40 mm, densely flowered, peduncle 1-2.5 cm, barely exserted from bract sheath. Female glumes pale green, elliptic-ovate, 3.5-4 mm, costa yellow-green, with a distinct midrib, apex acuminate with a short scabrous awn. Utricles green, slightly longer than glume, oblong-ellipsoid, trigonous, 4-5 mm, sparsely pubescent distally, prominently many veined, base attenuate, not stipitate, apex with a straight beak ca. 1.5 mm, orifice distinctly emarginate. Nutlet ashy brown, tightly enveloped, oblong-ovoid, 2.5-3 mm, faces concave in proximal half, angles not constricted at middle, base with a short straight stipe, apex gradually contracted into a short cylindric beak; style base slightly thickened; stigmas 3. Fl. and fr. Apr-May.

● Forests and roadsides on mountain slopes; 500-1300 m. NW Zhejiang (Lin’an).