87. Carex torta Boott

Pl. 53 a–d; Map 203

Plants with short-creeping rhizomes, forming dense clumps. Flowering stems 20–90 cm long, shorter than to mostly longer than the leaves, erect to ascending, sharply trigonous and often roughened on the angles, reddish purple tinged at the base. Lowermost leaves reduced to nearly bladeless sheaths. Leaf blades 5–40 cm long, 3–5 mm wide, green to dark green. Leaf sheaths with the tip concave, the ligule about as long as wide and U- or V-shaped, the ventral side white to yellowish green, the dorsal side green, smooth, the lowermost sheaths often reddish purple tinged, not becoming dissected into fibers at maturity. Spikes 3–7 per stem, the lowermost bract shorter than to about as long as the inflorescence. Staminate spike 1, 20–40 mm long, long-stalked. Staminate scales 2.0–3.5 mm long, oblong-obovate, rounded at the tip, awnless, reddish brown with lighter midrib and white margins. Pistillate spikes 3–6, the lowermost sometimes arched or drooping, 25–80 mm long, 2.5–4.5 mm wide, the uppermost sometimes staminate toward the tip. Pistillate scales 2–3 mm long, oblong-ovate, rounded to very bluntly pointed at the tip, awnless, dark brown to purplish black with green midrib and usually white margins. Perigynia 2.5–4.2 mm long, oblong-ovate to oblong-obovate in outline, flattened and unequally biconvex in cross-section, with a short, usually bent or twisted beak 0.1–0.5 mm long, truncate or nearly so at the tip, nerveless or with 1–2 obscure nerves on each surface in addition to the 2 marginal ribs, green to dark green. Styles withering during fruit development and jointed to the main body of the fruit. Fruits 1.8–2.5 mm long, oblong-ovate to oblong-obovate in outline, minutely beaked at the tip, brown. 2n=66. April–July.

Scattered in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions (northeastern U.S. and adjacent Canada west to Minnesota and Arkansas). Margins of streams and spring branches; uncommonly in fens; sometimes emergent aquatics.