3. Lipocarpha micrantha (Vahl) G.C. Tucker
Pl. 78 h–j; Map 298
Scirpus micranthus
Vahl
Hemicarpha micrantha
(Vahl) Britton
Spikelet scales 0.8–1.1
mm long, obovate, brown to reddish brown, the tip tapered to a short point,
this spreading to recurved, but much shorter than the main body of the scale.
“Perianth” scales absent or 0.1–0.3 mm long, much shorter
than the fruits, linear or narrowly 2-lobed.
Scattered mostly in the
southern half of the state and along the floodplains of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers (U.S. and adjacent Canada south to South America; Caribbean Islands, Africa). Mudflats and sand- or gravel bars of streams, rivers, and canals, muddy
margins of ponds, lakes, and sloughs, moist depressions of acidic glades, and
moist, sandy, disturbed areas.
This is by far the
commonest species of Lipocarpha in the state, and it occurs in the
greatest variety of habitats. In addition to the spikelet characters discussed
above, the achenes of L. micrantha differ from those of the other two
species in being less strongly obovate in outline and less angular and more
turgid in cross-section, with the surface more finely pebbled and often somewhat
lighter in color.