Carex paupera
Nelmes Dwarf SedgeRhizome long; shoots ± loosely tufted. Culms erect, terete, smooth, 8–45 mm long, c. 1 mm diam. Leaves longer than culms, 40–60 mm long, 0.7–1.5 mm wide; sheath dark brown, persisting as fibrous remains; ligule obtuse to rounded. Inflorescence erect, 0.7–3 cm long, of 1–3 spikes, spikes solitary at nodes; lowest involucral bracts exceeding inflorescence. Spikes sessile, ±contiguous when more than 1, spreading to erect at maturity, 4–8 mm long; all spikes with female flowers above male flowers; glumes acuminate to obtuse, mostly short- to long-mucronate, whitish to pale yellow-brown (rarely orange-brown) with green midrib; female glumes 2–3(–5) mm long; utricles 3–3.6(–4) mm long, 1.7–2.7 mm diam., broad-obovoid to ellipsoid, ± strongly 5–9-nerved, densely minutely hispid on narrowly winged margins and beak, green to yellowish; beak 0.7–1.0 mm long, with apex split; style 2-fid. Nut obovoid to broad-ellipsoid, lenticular, pale to dark yellow-brown. Flowers in Summer.
HNF, VAlp. Rare, on basaltic soils of the Bogong High Plains near Mt Jim, Mt Hotham area, Snowy Range, Dargo High Plains, and Nunniong Plateau.
Very close to Carex inversa, and possibly merely a dwarf high-altitude form of that species, as regarded by some authorities. The species is tentatively recognised here, but is accepted pending revision of the C. inversa complex. It differs from C. inversa in its dwarf habit (leaves rarely more than 5 cm long), culms usually less than 45 mm long, and in the inflorescence usually of a single spike, reaching to about half the length of the leaves.