Plants not cespitose, long-rhizomatous. Culms red-brown to red-purple at base. Leaves: basal sheaths not or only slightly fibrous; sheath fronts membranous, sheath fronts of distal cauline leaves minutely dotted red to purple; blades V-shaped in cross section when young, glabrous. Inflorescence 1 spike; bracts absent; spike androgynous. Proximal pistillate scales less than 10 mm, apex acuminate or cuspidate. Perigynia ascending, brown to reddish black, veinless or obscurely veined, broadly elliptic to obovate, terete to rounded-trigonous in cross section, base rounded-cuneate, apex tapering or rounded to abrupt beak, glabrous; beak 0.5–1 mm, minutely bidentate. Stigmas 3. Achenes rounded-trigonous, almost as large as bodies of perigynia; style deciduous.

Distribution

w and c North America, Eurasia.

Discussion

Species 1.

The delimitation of Carex sect. Obtusatae follows T. V. Egorova (1999) who placed C. supina and relatives in sect. Lamprochlaenae (Drejer) L. H. Bailey.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Carex obtusata