Carex mitchelliana

M. A. Curtis

Amer. J. Sci. Arts 44: 84. 1843.

IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Carex crinita var. mitchelliana (M. A. Curtis) Gleason
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 387. Mentioned on page 380, 386.

Plants cespitose. Culms acutely angled, 40–140 cm, scabrous. Leaves: basal sheaths brown; sheaths of proximal leaves bladeless, scabrous, fronts redbrown to copper-brown, spots absent, indistinctly ladder-fibrillose, apex U-shaped; blades hypostomic, 13–35 cm × 3–8 mm, papillose abaxially. Inflorescences: peduncle of proximal spike 0.6–3 cm; proximal bract longer than inflorescence, 1.5–6.2 mm wide. Spikes 2–4 pistillate, 1–2 staminate; pendent; proximal pistillate spike 3.1–7.9 cm × 3.6–7.4 mm. Pistillate scales pale to copper-brown; 2.9–6.3 mm (including awn), apex of body truncate, awned, scabrous. Perigynia ascending, pale-brown, 1–5-veined abaxially or veinless, scarcely inflated, loosely enclosing achenes, ovoid, 2.5–3.9 × 1.3–2.1 mm, dull, apex acute, papillose over entire surface; beak 0.1–0.3 mm. Achenes not constricted. 2n = 66.


Phenology: Fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Swamps, floodplain forests, wet meadows, stream edges, margins of lakes and ponds, roadside ditches
Elevation: 0–500 m

Distribution

V23 685-distribution-map.jpg

Ala., Del., Fla., Ga., Ky., Md., Mass., Miss., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Va.

Discussion

No specimens are known from Connecticut; Carex mitchelliana may be expected to occur there. The species is known from fewer than 100 extinct and extant populations located predominantly along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from Massachusetts to Alabama. Allozyme data demonstrated that the taxon, although not common, is genetically diverse and is closely related to the progenitor of the species complex (L. P. Bruederle et al. 1989).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"shortened" is not a number.

... more about "Carex mitchelliana"
biconvex +
not constricted +
awned +  and truncate +
papillose +
acute;u--shaped +
Lisa A. Standley +, Jacques Cayouette +  and Leo Bruederle +
M. A. Curtis +
not +  and fibrous +
tapering +  and rounded +
bidentate +  and emarginate +
0.01 cm0.1 mm <br />1.0e-4 m <br /> (0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br />) +
13 cm130 mm <br />0.13 m <br /> (35 cm350 mm <br />0.35 m <br />) +
papillose +
m--shaped +  and v--shaped +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
redbrown +  and brown +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (140 cm1,400 mm <br />1.4 m <br />) +
prophyllate +, subsessile +, pedunculate +  and staminate +
Ala. +, Del. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ky. +, Md. +, Mass. +, Miss. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +  and Va. +
0–500 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
redbrown +  and copper-brown +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Swamps, floodplain forests, wet meadows, stream edges, margins of lakes and ponds, roadside ditches +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
veinless +  and 1-5-veined +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.39 cm3.9 mm <br />0.0039 m <br />) +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.21 cm2.1 mm <br />0.0021 m <br />) +
Fruiting Jun–Aug. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
short-sheathing +, sheathless +  and leaflike +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.62 cm6.2 mm <br />0.0062 m <br />) +
Amer. J. Sci. Arts +
adventitious +
pale +  and copper-brown +
basal +  and proximal +
2-keeled +
0.29 cm2.9 mm <br />0.0029 m <br /> (0.63 cm6.3 mm <br />0.0063 m <br />) +
ladder-fibrillose +  and veined +
cylindric +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
pistillate +  and staminate +
3.1 cm31 mm <br />0.031 m <br /> (7.9 cm79 mm <br />0.079 m <br />) +
0.36 cm3.6 mm <br />0.0036 m <br /> (0.74 cm7.4 mm <br />0.0074 m <br />) +
ladder-fibrillose +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
deciduous +
2-3(-4)-fid +
Carex crinita var. mitchelliana +
Carex mitchelliana +
Carex sect. Phacocystis +
species +
, +  and staminate +
plant +  and cespitose +