Volume 6 > Part 4 > Year 1998 > Page 455 > Cyperaceae > Carex

6. Carex cruciata Vahl

Vet. Akad. Nya Handl. Stockholm 24: 149. 1803; C.B.Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 6: 715. 1894; Kük. in Engl., Pflanzenr. 4(20), Heft 38: 265. 1909; Camus in Fl. Gén. I.-C. 7: 189, f. 27, 5–9. 1912; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 185. 1925; Nelmes, Reinwardtia 1: 277. 1951; Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. [Paris], n.s. B, 4(2); 129. 1955; Raymond, Mém. Jard. Bot. Montréal 53, 46. 1959: Dansk Bot. Ark. 23: 254. 1965; J.Kern & Noot. in Fl. Males., Ser. 1, Spermat. 9: 119. 1979; Hô, Câyco Viêtnam III. 2: 720. 1993.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Rhizomatous perennial. Culms 1-few, 40–110 cm by 1.5–2.5 mm, trigonous, smooth. Leaves basal and cauline; blade linear, up to 90 cm by 6–14 mm, long-acuminate, flattish-plicate; sheath 7–12 cm long, the basal sheaths often becoming fibrous. Lowest involucral bract leaf-like, up to 40 cm long. Inflorescence paniculate, up to 50 cm long; nodes 3–6, very distant to often crowded above, each subtending 1(–2) partial inflorescences; partial inflorescences pedunculate, ovoid to subpyramidal, 3–11 cm long, usually branched, the branches bearing numerous spikes. Spikes oblong to ovate-elliptic, 0.5–1 cm long, androgynous, upper section male, 0.2–0.5 cm long, lower female. Male glumes 2.9–3.3 mm long. Female glumes broadly elliptic to ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm long, acute to subobtuse, mucronate, sides membranous, yellowish brown to mid-brown, keel 3-nerved. Utricles ± patent, ovoid, trigonous, 3.5–4 by 1–1.3 mm, whitish to pale greenish, inflated, several-nerved, usually glabrous, rather abruptly narrowed into beak; beak ca 1.5 mm long, scabrous, 2-toothed. Stigmas 3. Nutlets ovate-elliptic, trigonous, 2 mm long.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son (Ban Mae la Noi, Doi Chong, Mae Surin), Chiang Mai (Doi Inthanon, Doi Suthep, Mai Soi), Chiang Rai (Doi Tung, Doi Pa Hom Pok), Nan (Doi Khun Sathan, Doi Phu Ka), Tak (Mae Sot, Ban Musoe); Phitsanulok (Phu Hin Rong Kla, Phu Rom Rot); NORTH-EASTERN: Loei (Phu Kradueng); EASTERN: Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima; SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi (Mapkhla), Trat; PENINSULAR: Trang.

Distribution : India (type) to SW Japan and W Malesia.

Ecology : Grassy forests floors, 800–2,500 m alt.

Vernacular : Khom bang khao (คมบางขาว)(Northern, Northeastern).

Notes: This species has whitish to pale greenish utricles which are somewhat inflated and I mm or more wide.

E-version notes : As Carex cruciata Wahlenb., Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 24: 149. 1803.