Short-leaf Sedge - Carex fuliginosa
Other Names:
Carex misandra
Caespitose. Stems erect, 5–20 cm. Leaves basal and cauline; blades 1–4 mm wide. Inflorescence of 3 to 5 pedunculate spikes; the lowest bract shorter or longer than the inflorescence. Spikes 5–17 mm long, lanceolate, similar, the uppermost bisexual with male flowers below; the lower female, ascending to arching. Perigynia ascending, green to black, narrowly lanceolate, glabrous, 3.5 × 0.5–1 mm, tapered to a serrulate beak 1.5 mm long; stigmas 3. Female scales brown to blackish with a pale midstripe, exposing the periginia beak. Achene 3-sided, nearly filling the perigynium (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).