Red-based spikesedge

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Red-based spikesedge

Red-based spikesedge

Red-based spikesedge roots

Red-based spikesedge inflorescence

Red-based spikesedge

Red-based spikesedge scales

Morphology

Culm

Erect, slender, round in cross-section, reddish-purple at base.

Leaves

Small bladeless sheaths near base of culm, red or dark brown.

Inflorescence

Spikelet, solitary, terminal, lance-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped, 1/5 to 7/10 inch long, many-flowered; tip pointed.

Flower

Perfect; fertile scales ovate to lanceolate, closely appressed, brown or straw-colored with light midrib; margins transparent; tips blunt; lowest scale sterile, completely encircling culm; bristles 0-4, as long as achenes; styles 2-cleft.

Fruit

Achene, tiny, narrowly egg-shaped, 2-sided, yellow, becoming dark brown with age, 1-seeded.

Ecology

Habitat

Margins of streams and ponds, lake shores, ditches, marshy meadows, and wet prairies; usually standing in water.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas.

Additional Notes