 Photo ©
Carl Farmer |
Common in bogs and wet ground at all elevations Female spikes c 6-11 mm long. Fruits c 3-4 mm long including beak c 0.8-1.2 mm. Skye ID: Female spikes not or shortly stalked (close enough to touch the stem), mostly less than twice as long as broad, usually 3 altogether, the top two often almost globular and usually overlapping, the third somewhat distant. Only 1 male spike on most stems, with a stalk at least 3 mm long and sometimes up to 25 mm long. Fruit usually > 3.5 mm long including 1 mm beak. Fruit not strongly curved (beak diverging by < 20º from midline of body of fruit). Leaves flattish, not channelled or inrolled. Other features: Plant forms distinctive low yellowish-green tufts with leaves and stems spreading out in all directions. Intermediates with ssp brachyrrhyncha and ssp viridula do occur, but in their typical ecological niches the plants normally conform well enough. Pictures shown here are not typical specimens but ones I took thinking they might be something else! The one on the left is from a wet mountain-top flush and resembles ssp brachyrrhyncha in some ways but does not have curved fruit. The one in the other pictures is a very lush specimen at the grassy edge of a burn shortly before it reaches the sea. Will get typical pics next year. |
