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Scleria testacea

Nees (1834)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Monocots Order: Poales Family: Cyperaceae Genus: Scleria

nutgrass

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Perennials with horizontal, woody rhizomes.

Stems: Culms densely tufted along the rhizome, 60–90 cm tall, 2–3 cm wide, antrorsely scabrous on the sharp angles, the sides slightly concave, 2–3–leaved.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Blades cauline. Blades linear, 30–50 cm long, 3–8 mm wide. Apex narrowing and subacute. Surfaces glabrous. Margins entire. Sheaths broadly to very narrowly winged, the contra–ligule deltate–lanceolate, obtuse. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in panicles narrow, open, 2–3– nodose, bearing 3–5 partial panicles, the terminal partial panicle 2–6 cm long, lateral ones solitary or paired, much smaller than terminal one, peduncles enclosed or exserted; involucral bracts up to 15 cm long, the sheath winged; spikelets rusty brown, sessile, in groups of 2 to several, subtended by setaceous bracteoles. glumes 2-ranked, the 2 uppermost glumes bearing a pistillate flower, ovate to broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm long, acute; hypogynium cup–shaped, ca. 1 mm high, apex truncate or inconspicuously 3-lobed and margins ciliate. Flowers unisexual. Corolla (petals) absent. Ovary superior.

Fruit: Achenes dingy white; glossy; broadly ovoid; 2.5–3 mm long; 2–2.3 mm wide; smooth; obtuse. Seeds 1; seed coat thin; free from pericarp; embryo basal; endosperm abundant.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Low elevation wet sites.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Indigenous

Island Status

Molokai Not in flora
Maui Indigenous
Hawai'i Indigenous

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Linnaea 9(3): 303 (1834)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1434 (WM?†, 1871; H [WM noted by Hillebrand, no spms. known]); Oppenheimer 2008:27 (Mo); Faccenda 2023b:81 (remove Mo [re-IDed as S. gaertneri])

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Scleria testacea Lava flows below Olaa Preserved_Specimen Lyon, H.L. Hawaii BISH 1933-12-20
2 Scleria testacea Hilo near airport, in wet, rocky lowland Preserved_Specimen Kawasaki, A. Hawaii BISH 1958-09-22
3 Scleria testacea Pahoa faarmers' market. WGS coordinates: Lat. 19.537577, Long. -154.971159 In degraded forest, sunny, moist. Common, Preserved_Specimen caespitose sedge with sharp edges to leaves which easily cut skin. Faccenda, K. 3295 Hawaii BISH 2024-01-07
4 Scleria testacea Hawaii Preserved_Specimen Hillebrand, W.B. Hawaii BISH
5 Scleria testacea Rainbow Falls Wet places. Preserved_Specimen 1 m. height. Lee, H.A. 162 Hawaii BISH 1926-03-01
6 Scleria testacea Kurtistown Growing in a rather dry place. Preserved_Specimen Sterile. [No collection since 1916?] Kawasaki, A. Hawaii BISH 1958-05-01
7 Scleria testacea Land of Waiakea behind Leleiwi Point Dry, rocky scrublands. Preserved_Specimen Fruit gray-white when mature. Herbst, D.R. 5509 Hawaii BISH 1975-10-20
8 Scleria testacea Waikahekahe Nui On grassy plain, depressed place. Preserved_Specimen Hosaka, E.Y. 1387 Hawaii BISH 1936-06-30
9 Scleria testacea ahupuaa of Halepuaa in the Puna District The plant grows in exposed areas with direct sunlight. Preserved_Specimen The plant is viney and creeps through the Sword Fern or vegetation that it is growing in. The plant has sharp edges along the triangular stem. The plant is light green in color in teh field. Yoshida, L. 79.04 Hawaii BISH 1979-02-23
10 Scleria testacea ahupuaa of Halepuaa in the Puna District The plant grows in exposed areas with direct sunlight. Creeps through the Sword fern or vegetation that it is growing in. Preserved_Specimen The plant is viney. The plant has sharp edges along the triangular stem. The plant is light green in color in the field. Yoshida, L. 79.04 Hawaii BISH 1979-02-23
11 Scleria testacea Hilo Preserved_Specimen Hitchcock, A.S. 14156 Hawaii BISH 1916-08-17
12 Scleria testacea Puna, Ainaloa, Kuleana Drive and Ainaloa Drive. Sunny, moist, occasionally mowed roadside. Common, very disturbance adapted, seen in infrequently mowed areas along the road. Leaves strongly scabrous and will cut you. Preserved_Specimen Faccenda, K. 3578 Hawaii BISH 2024-07-08
13 Scleria testacea South Hilo District, Waiakea, Keaukaha Military Reservation Growing along jeep road through mixed native/exotic forest. Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 9782 Hawaii BISH 1996-07-05
14 Scleria testacea Puna, Orchidland subdevelopment, Orchid Land Dr. and 38th Ave Disturbed roadside, sunny, moist Preserved_Specimen To 1.5 m tall, clump forming, leaves and culms very scabrous, uncommon Faccenda, K. 2254 Hawaii BISH 2022-02-28
15 Scleria testacea Rainbow Falls Wet places. Preserved_Specimen 1 m. height. Lee, H.A. 162 Hawaii BISH 1926-03-01
16 Scleria testacea Hilo Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. 329 Hawaii BISH 1864-01-01
17 Scleria testacea Hilo Preserved_Specimen Rémy, J. 73 Hawaii BISH 1851-01-01
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