Carex arctata

Boott in W. J. Hooker

in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 227. 1839.

Common names: Drooping woodland sedge carex comprimé
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Carex arctata var. faxonii L. H. Bailey
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 467. Mentioned on page 463, 466, 468, 471.

Plants densely cespitose. Culms dark maroon at base; flowering-stems 20–100 cm, much longer than leaves at maturity, 0.6–1 mm thick, glabrous but scabrous within inflorescence. Leaves: basal sheaths maroon, bladeless, rarely minutely scabrous, glabrous; others grading from maroon to green on back, white to tan-hyaline on front, minutely red dotted; blades flat, 3–10 (–13) mm wide, glabrous with minutely scabrous margins. Inflorescences: peduncles of lateral spikes slender, to 30 mm, shorter than spikes; peduncle of terminal spike to 28 mm, usually shorter than adjacent pistillate spikes, minutely scabrous on angles; proximal bracts shorter than inflorescences; sheaths to 30 mm; blades 2–3 mm wide. Lateral spikes 2–5, 1 per node, well separated, erect at anthesis, but soon drooping, pistillate with 15–45 perigynia attached 1–2 mm apart, linear-elongate, 25–80 × 3–4 mm. Terminal spike staminate, sessile or pedunculate, 6–40 × 0.8–2 mm. Pistillate scales white-hyaline with green midrib, oblong-lanceolate, shorter than mature perigynia, apex acuminate to cuspidate or awned, awn to 1.5 mm, margins and awn scabrous or ciliate, otherwise glabrous. Perigynia green, often red dotted, 2-ribbed and finely 10–15-veined, loosely enveloping achene, ellipsoid-ovoid, 3–5 × 1–2 mm, membranous, base with stipe 2–3 mm, apex tapering to minute beak, glabrous but sometimes ciliate between apical teeth; beak bidentate, 0.7–1.5 mm. Achenes sessile, 1.7–2.6 × 0.8–1.7 mm. 2n = 52, 54, 56.


Phenology: Fruiting late spring–mid summer.
Habitat: Northern hemlock-hardwood forests, boreal coniferous forests, white-cedar swamps, upland, dry to mesic deciduous forests

Distribution

V23 856-distribution-map.jpg

Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Conn., Ind., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Vt., Wis.

Discussion

Occasional specimens with late-flowering stems have shorter, more crowded pistillate spikes and resemble the type specimen for Carex arctata var. faxonii, but these are anomalous within populations and not deserving of taxonomic status. Specimens lacking vegetative shoots can be misleading because the leaves of the flowering stems are usually at least 2–3 mm narrower than those of the vegetative shoots. Nearly sterile hybrids with C. castanea (= C. ×knieskernii) are sporadic, but uncommon, occurring throughout the area where the ranges of the parental species overlap. Hybrids with C. gracillima and C. virescens have also been reported; their parentage has not been confirmed.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"shortened" is not a number."thick" is not a number.

... more about "Carex arctata"
56 +, 54 +  and 52 +
0.17 cm1.7 mm <br />0.0017 m <br /> (0.26 cm2.6 mm <br />0.0026 m <br />) +
trigonous +
0.8mm;1.7mm +
awned +  and cuspidate +
tapering;acuminate +
Marcia J. Waterway +
Boott in W. J. Hooker +
glabrous +, ciliate +  and scabrous +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
rounded +  and tapering +
Hymenochlaenae +
bidentate +
minute +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
m--shaped +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 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 +
Drooping woodland sedge +  and carex comprimé +
dark maroon +
round +  and trigonous +
Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.S. +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Conn. +, Ind. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, N.H. +, N.Y. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, R.I. +, Vt. +  and Wis. +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Northern hemlock-hardwood forests, boreal coniferous forests, white-cedar swamps, upland, dry to mesic deciduous forests +
apart +  and separated +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
drooping +  and erect +
linear-elongate +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
glabrous +, ciliate +  and scabrous +
entire +  and bidentate +
red dotted +, white +  and tan-hyaline +
usually shorter +  and shorter +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (2.8 cm28 mm <br />0.028 m <br />) +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
red dotted +  and green +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
ascending +  and erect +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Fruiting late spring–mid summer. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
, +, suffused with maroon or suffused with chestnut-brown +, white +  and hyaline +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. +
adventitious +
white-hyaline +
basal +  and proximal +
oblong-lanceolate +
cylindric +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (?) +  and 0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (?) +
deciduous +
2-3(-4)-fid +
Carex arctata var. faxonii +
Carex arctata +
Carex sect. Hymenochlaenae +
species +
pedunculate +, sessile +  and staminate +
androgynous +  and gynecandrous +
0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
plant +  and cespitose +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
not septate-nodulose +