Carex merritt-fernaldii

Mackenzie

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 49: 370. 1923.

Common names: Carex de Fernald
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Carex brevior var. pseudofestucacea Farwell
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 374. Mentioned on page 339.

Plants densely cespitose; rhizomes appearing elongate only in old clumps. Culms 30–100 cm; vegetative culms few, inconspicuous, with fewer than 15 (–17) leaves, not strikingly 3-ranked. Leaves: sheaths adaxially white-hyaline, summits U-shaped to truncate, sometimes prolonged 1–2 mm beyond collar, not puckered, finely papillose; distal ligules 2.5–4.8 mm; blades 3–6 per fertile culm, 14–32 cm × 1.5–3 mm. Inflorescences compact to open, occasionally elongate and arching or nodding, reddish-brown or straw colored, 1.5–5 cm × 7–15 mm; proximal internode 5–15 mm; 2d internode 3–7 mm; proximal bracts scalelike with bristle tips shorter than inflorescences. Spikes (4–) 6–8 (–10), distinct, ovoid, 7–15 × 5–9 mm, base rounded, apex rounded or nearly acute. Pistillate scales light yellowbrown with paler midvein, lance-subulate or lanceolate, occasionally broadly lanceolate, (3.2–) 3.4–3.8 (–4.2) mm, 0.2–1.3 mm shorter than perignyium beaks, narrower than perigynia, margins white-hyaline, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, apex acute. Anthers 1.3–2.6 mm. Perigynia 15–80 in larger spikes, ascending, light green to straw colored, conspicuously 5–9-veined abaxially, veinless or faintly 1–5-veined adaxially, broadly ovate to ovate-orbiculate, planoconvex, 3.3–5 × 2.3–3.5 mm, 0.5–0.8 mm thick, irregular, margin flat, including wing 0.4–0.8 mm wide, with 1–2 veins in yellowish wing, smooth; beak redbrown at tip, flat, 0.7–1.6 (–1.8) mm, ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture ± conspicuous, distance from beak tip to achene 1.8–3.1 mm. Achenes ovate or orbiculate, 1.4–1.8 × 1.1–1.5 mm, 0.5–0.7 mm thick. 2n = 70, 74.


Phenology: Fruiting early–mid summer.
Habitat: Dry sands, gravels, rocky places, meadows, roadsides, on acidic substrates
Elevation: 50–600 m

Distribution

V23 663-distribution-map.jpg

Man., N.B., Ont., Que., Conn., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.Y., Ohio, Vt., Wis.

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"shortened" is not a number."+timesaslongasinflorescences" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."not undefined" is not a number."narrower" is not a number.

... more about "Carex merritt-fernaldii"
orbiculate;ovate +
smaller +
0.5mm +  and 0.7mm +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.26 cm2.6 mm <br />0.0026 m <br />) +
bidentatate +
papillose +
acute;acute;rounded +
Joy Mastrogiuseppe +, Paul E. Rothrock +, A. C. Dibble +  and A. A. Reznicek +
Mackenzie +
persistent +
rounded +
not enlarged +
ciliate-serrulate +
0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br /> (0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br />) +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.16 cm1.6 mm <br />0.0016 m <br />) +
14 cm140 mm <br />0.14 m <br /> (32 cm320 mm <br />0.32 m <br />) +
3 +  and 6 +
v--shaped +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
Carex de Fernald +
inconspicuous +
fertile +  and vegetative +
round +  and trigonous +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.48 cm4.8 mm <br />0.0048 m <br />) +
Man. +, N.B. +, Ont. +, Que. +, Conn. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, N.H. +, N.Y. +, Ohio +, Vt. +  and Wis. +
50–600 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Dry sands, gravels, rocky places, meadows, roadsides, on acidic substrates +
compact +  and open +
straw colored +  and reddish-brown +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
nodding +  and arching +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
not prophyllate +, sessile +  and pistillate +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
white-hyaline +
0.4mm +  and 0.8mm +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
1-5-veined +, veinless +  and 5-9-veined +
light green +  and straw colored +
0.5mm +  and 0.8mm +
Fruiting early–mid summer. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
sheathless +  and bristlelike +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
adventitious +
0.38 cm3.8 mm <br />0.0038 m <br /> (0.42 cm4.2 mm <br />0.0042 m <br />) +
light yellowbrown +
basal +  and proximal +
lanceolate;lanceolate;lance-subulate +
0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br /> (0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br />) +
herbaceous +  and membranous +
not differentiated +
cylindric +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
distinct +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-3(-4)-fid +
prolonged +
papillose +  and not puckered +
u-shaped +  and truncate +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Carex brevior var. pseudofestucacea +
Carex merritt-fernaldii +
Carex sect. Ovales +
species +
1 (?) +  and 2 (?) +
plant +  and cespitose +