Carex acutiformis

Ehrhart

Bietr. Naturk. 4: 43. 1789.

IntroducedIllustrated
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 494. Mentioned on page 491, 493.

Plants colonial; rhizomes long-creeping. Culms central, coarse, trigonous, 55–130 cm, scabrous-angled. Leaves: basal sheaths pale green to brownish or red tinged; ligules 5–14 mm; blades glaucous, M-shaped, (4.5–) 5.5–12 (–20) mm wide, glabrous. Inflorescences 15–35 cm; proximal 2–5 spikes pistillate, ascending; distal spikes erect; terminal 1–2 (–3) spikes staminate. Pistillate scales lanceolate, acute to acuminate, glabrous, at least the proximal with scabrous awn to 3.5 mm. Perigynia ascending, ± glaucous, often strongly red dotted, ± strongly 12–18-veined, thin-walled, narrowly ovoid, flattened-trigonous, 3–4.5 × 1.4–2.1 mm, glabrous; beak 0.3–0.6 mm, emarginate to weakly bidentulate, teeth to 0.2 mm. 2n = 78.


Phenology: Fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Open swamps, wet, open thickets, marsh edges, sedge meadows, lakeshores
Elevation: 0–300 m

Distribution

V23 915-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Ont., Conn., Ind., Mass., Md., Mich., N.Y., Eurasia, Africa

Discussion

An uncommon and local introduction, Carex acutiformis forms large, glaucous clones where it is established but is, as yet, not spreading aggressivly into adjacent habitats. It superficially resembles C. aquatilis, but is larger, has 3 stigmas, and has strongly veined perigynia 3–4.5 mm.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"lengthofbody" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."shortened" is not a number.

... more about "Carex acutiformis"
trigonous +
smaller +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
tapering;acute;acuminate +
A. A. Reznicek +  and Paul M. Catling +
Ehrhart +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
pale green;brownish or red tinged +
rounded +
emarginate +  and weakly bidentulate +
straight +
emarginate +  and bidentate +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
glabrous +  and glaucous +
m--shaped +
0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
involute +  and channeled +
red tinged +
scabrous-angled +  and trigonous +
55 cm550 mm <br />0.55 m <br /> (130 cm1,300 mm <br />1.3 m <br />) +
with awn +  and acuminate +
Ont. +, Conn. +, Ind. +, Mass. +, Md. +, Mich. +, N.Y. +, Eurasia +  and Africa +
0–300 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Open swamps, wet, open thickets, marsh edges, sedge meadows, lakeshores +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (35 cm350 mm <br />0.35 m <br />) +
staminate +, prophyllate +, pedunculate +  and pistillate +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
pubescent;,;glabrous +
septate-nodulose +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (2.1 cm21 mm <br />0.021 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.4 cm14 mm <br />0.014 m <br />) +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
thin-walled +  and 12-18-veined +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
glabrous +  and glaucous +
0.14 cm1.4 mm <br />0.0014 m <br /> (0.21 cm2.1 mm <br />0.0021 m <br />) +
Fruiting Jun–Aug. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
Bietr. Naturk. +
adventitious +
basal +  and proximal +
acute;acuminate +
ladder-fibrillose +
shorter or longer +
septate-nodulose +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
Introduced +  and Illustrated +
staminate +  and pistillate +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-3(-4)-fid +
Carex acutiformis +
Carex sect. Paludosae +
species +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br />) +
plant +  and colonial +