Whip nut-rush

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Whip nut-rush

Whip nut-rush

Whip nut-rush

Whip nut-rush

Whip nut-rush

Whip nut-rush inflorescence

Whip nut-rush

Morphology

Culm

Erect to ascending, strongly triangular, stout, glabrous, angles rough.

Leaves

Flat, linear, 2/5 to 12 inches long, 1/8 to 2/5 inch wide, shorter than culm, stiff, rough, ribbed, glabrous or slightly pubescent on veins below; margins rough, sometimes slightly pubescent; tip abruptly tapering to point.

Sheath

Not winged, glabrous or minutely pubescent, often tinged purplish.

Ligule

Rigid, glabrous or hairy.

Inflorescence

Head-like clusters of spikelets, 1-3, 3/5 to 1.6 inch long, 1/5 to 3/5 inch wide, terminal and in leaf axils; involucral bracts erect to ascending, leaf-like, elongate, lanceolate, 1 to 6 inches long, exceeding inflorescence, fringed or glabrous; tips tapering to long points.

Spikelet

Brown, 1/8 to 2/5 inch long; 1-flowered pistillate spikelets usually distributed among clusters of staminate spikelets; staminate scales lanceolate, tapering to points, green to purplish-brown; pistillate scales ovate, midrib prolonged into short awn; stamens 3.

Fruit

Achene, nearly spherical to egg-shaped, 1/12 to 1/10 inch tall and wide, smooth, shiny, whitish , situated on low, ring-like structure (hypogynium); hypogynium somewhat 3-lobed, covered with rough, white crust; achene tip usually with minute point.

Ecology

Habitat

Sandy prairies, sandy open woods, ditches, meadows, swales, rocky disturbed sites; sandy soils.

Distribution

East third of Kansas and McPherson County.

Additional Notes