Carex brachyathera
Content
Description
Leaves basal or 1-2 higher on the stem, shorter than the stem, flat, or involute when dry, stiffish, asperous, long-attenuate, 1-3.5 wide.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: New Guinea present, Mt Carstensz present, Mt Sarawaket present, Mt Wilhelmina present, Ryu Kyu Is present, Southern America: Argentina Northeast (Formosa present)
Ryu Kyu Is., Formosa; in Malesia: New Guinea (Mt Carstensz, Mt Wilhelmina in W., Mt Sarawaket in E.).
Notes
The New Guinea collections exhibit a high degree of variability in size, length of bracts, spikelets, and utricles, probably due to their growing at high altitude, often in uncongenial habitats. I do not see any reason to treat them as varietally distinct from the Formosan plants, as was done by Koyama, on account of the longer bracts and — according to Nelmes — sometimes digynous flowers.