Carex picta Steud.

Dioecious; stems 1–3 dm, cespitose from stout woody rhizomes, much shorter than the lvs; main lvs 3–5 mm wide; spike 1, linear, 2–4 cm, the basal scales usually sterile and somewhat elongate, the flowering scales usually purple with paler midnerve and narrow hyaline margins, the uppermost often short-cuspidate; perigynia narrowly oblong-obovoid, 3-angled, many-nerved, 4–5 mm, a third as wide, yellowish-green or suffused with purple, acute, hairy distally; achene 3–4 mm, filling the perigynium; no rachilla. Dry woods; s. Ind., Tenn., Ala., and La.; fl Mar., Apr.