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• Dichotomous Key
• Cyperaceae
• Scleria
• Scleria pauciflora

Scleria pauciflora — few-flowered nutsedge

Facts

Few-flowered nutsedge is an inhabitant of sandplains, pine barrens, oak shrublands and seasonally wet, sandy sites. It is rare in New England. There are two varieties in our region. Scleria pauciflora var. caroliniana is distinguished by having dense pubescence, and S. pauciflora var. pauciflora is distinguished by having short, sparse pubescence, and is found only in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Habitat

Grassland, sandplains and barrens, shrublands or thickets, wetland margins (edges of wetlands), woodlands

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  2–2.5 mm

  Floral bristle color

  NA

  Floral bristle number

  0

  Floral bristle relative length

  NA

  Floral bristles

  NA

  Floral scale hairs

  the floral scales have hairs on them

  Floral scale shape

  • the floral scales are lanceolate (widest below the middle, and tapering at both ends)
  • the floral scales are ovate (roughly egg-shaped)

  Inflorescence bract angle

  the bracts are vertical or angled only slightly outwards

  Inflorescence bract number

  • there are two to five bracts per inflorescence
  • there is just one bract on the inflorescence

  Inflorescence bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Inflorescence bracts

  there is only one bract, and it looks like a continuation of the stem

  Inflorescence branching

  • the inflorescence is branched
  • the inflorescence is on one or more stems with no branches

  Inflorescence crowding

  the inflorescence is crowded together in one tight cluster

  Inflorescence position

  • the inflorescence emerges from an axil, or most of its parts do so
  • the inflorescence is at the tip of the plant

  Inflorescence shape

  the aggregations within the inflorescence are roughly circular (not flattened) in cross-section

  Inflorescence type

  • there are two or more flowers, spikes or flower clusters on a branched inflorescence
  • there is one spike or raceme at the tip of the stem

  Perianth composition

  there is no perianth on the plant

  Stamen number

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

  Stigma number

  • 2
  • 3

  Style division

  the top two thirds of the style is divided

  floral bristle barbs

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Achene surface texture

  the achene has tiny wrinkles that run cross-wise across the achene

  Achene tubercle relative width

  NA

  Achene tubercle width

  0 mm

  Capsule relative length

  NA

  Fruit cross-section

  the fruit is triangular to terete (circular) in cross-section

  Fruit length

  1–3 mm

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is like a seed, and surrounded by scales

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is an achene (dry, seed-like fruit) without a tubercle (a swelling or projection, usually of a different color or texture)

  Locules in capsule

  NA

  Seed length

  0 mm

  Seed tail relative length

  0 mm

  Seed tails

  NA

  Tubercle height

  0 mm

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizome thickness

  Up to 5 mm

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Auricle length

  0 mm

  Auricle texture

  NA

  Auricles

  there are no auricles on the leaf sheath

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is flat or rolled in at the edges

  Leaf blade length

  Up to 20 mm

  Leaf blade width

  1–2.5 mm

  Leaf form

  all the leaves hold their form out of water

  Leaf position on plant

  some leaf attachment points are above the midpoint of the stem

  Leaf septa

  the leaf blades do not have transverse septa

  Leaf sheath hairs

  the leaf sheathes have hairs on them

  Pedicel length (Typha)

  0 mm

  Stem leaf blade ligules

  the plant has ligules at the leaf blade bases

  Stem leaf blades

  there are fully-developed leaves with leaf blades on the main stem

  Width of seed-producing inflorescence

  2–10 mm

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • edges of wetlands
  • grasslands
  • sandplains or barrens
  • shrublands or thickets
  • woodlands

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  15–50 cm

  Stem shape in cross-section

  the stem is roughly triangular in cross-section

  Stem texture near tip

  the edges of the stem feel rough near the tip

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae