86. Carex stricta Lam. (tussock sedge)

Pl. 54 f–i; Map 202

C. stricta var. strictior (Dewey) Carey

Plants with short- and long-creeping rhizomes, forming dense, usually large clumps (tussocks). Flowering stems 40–140 cm long, shorter than to mostly longer than the leaves, erect to commonly somewhat arched, sharply trigonous and roughened on the angles, reddish purple tinged at the base. Lowermost leaves reduced to nearly bladeless sheaths. Leaf blades 5–90 cm long, 3–6 mm wide, green to bluish green, sometimes somewhat glaucous when young. Leaf sheaths with the tip concave, the ligule longer than wide and V-shaped, the ventral side tan to light yellow, usually with yellowish brown or reddish purple dots, the dorsal side mostly green, roughened, the lowermost sheaths often reddish tinged, becoming dissected on the ventral side into a ladderlike network of fibers at maturity. Spikes 3–6 per stem, the lowermost bract shorter than to about as long as the inflorescence. Staminate spike(s) 1–3, 15–65 mm long, the terminal spike short- to long-stalked, the lateral, staminate spikes (if present) sessile or nearly so. Staminate scales 3.0–4.5 mm long, oblong-obovate, rounded at the tip, awnless, reddish brown to purplish black with lighter midrib and white margins. Pistillate spikes 2–4, ascending, 15–60 mm long, 4–5 mm wide, the uppermost sometimes staminate toward the tip. Pistillate scales 1.5–3.5 mm long, oblong-ovate to lanceolate, rounded to pointed at the tip, reddish brown to purplish black with lighter, sometimes green midrib and usually white margins. Perigynia 1.6–3.4 mm long, elliptic to ovate in outline, flattened and biconvex in cross-section, not inflated, with a short beak to 0.1 mm long, truncate at the tip, nerveless or with 1–2 obscure nerves on each surface in addition to the 2 marginal ribs, light green to green or straw-colored, sometimes with reddish brown dots. Styles withering during fruit development and jointed to the main body of the fruit. Fruits 1.2–1.8 mm long, elliptic to obovate in outline, minutely beaked at the tip, brown. 2n=68. May–July.

Scattered in the Ozark Division (eastern U.S., more commonly in the northeastern states, west to Minnesota and Texas; Canada). Fens and margins of streams and spring branches on calcareous substrates; sometimes emergent aquatics.

This species is sometimes divided into two varieties, based upon the degree of rhizome formation and variations in leaf color, but these characters vary too much within populations to support recognition of infraspecific taxa. Steyermark (1963) suggested that C. stricta represented a Pleistocene relict, surviving at isolated stations in the Ozarks after the climate warmed.