Carex comosa

Boott

Proc. Linn. Soc. London 1: 258. 1846.

Common names: Carex à toupet
Illustrated
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 510. Mentioned on page 502, 508, 511.

Plants densely to loosely cespitose; rhizomes short, no more than 10 cm. Culms trigonous in cross-section, 50–120 cm, scabrous distally. Leaves: basal sheaths pale-brown; ligules usually much longer than wide; blades mid to dark green, flat to W-shaped, 5–16 mm wide, glabrous. Inflorescences 4–35 cm; proximal bract 15–85 cm, much longer than inflorescence; proximal (2–) 3–6 spikes pistillate, erect or the proximal pendent, cylindric, 12–18 mm thick; terminal staminate or, sometimes, gynaecandrous, androgynous, or mixed. Pistillate scales lanceolate-acuminate, 2.8–12 × 0.4–1 mm, all but the proximal shorter than perigynia, margins ciliate, apex tapering to long scabrous awn. Staminate scales scabrous-awned, sometimes ciliate-margined. Perigynia spreading to reflexed when mature, strongly 14–22-veined, most veins separated by less than 2 times their width, confluent at or proximal to mid beak, tightly investing achene, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, (4.8–) 6.2–8.7 × 1.1–1.8 mm, leathery, apex gradually tapered; beak poorly defined, 2–3.8 mm, bidentate, teeth outcurved, 1.3–2.1 (–2.8) mm. Stigmas 3. Achenes pale-brown, trigonous, smooth.


Phenology: Fruiting Apr–Jul.
Habitat: Swamps and wet thickets, stream, pond, and lakeshores, depressions in wet meadows, marshes, including freshwater tidal marshes, often in shallow water or on emergent stumps, floating logs, and floating mats of vegetation
Elevation: 0–700 m

Distribution

V23 952-distribution-map.jpg

Ont., Que., Ark., Calif., Conn., Del., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., Wis., Mexico

Discussion

Carex comosa is uncommon and local in the west and south of glaciated regions in the east except in some coastal areas.

Carex comosa rarely forms sterile hybrids with C. pseudocyperus and C. hystericina.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"shortened" is not a number.

... more about "Carex comosa"
trigonous +
awned +  and awnless +
not papillose +
tapered;tapering +
A. A. Reznicek +  and Bruce A. Ford +
not +  and fibrous +
truncate +  and rounded +
Vesicariae +
bidentate +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.38 cm3.8 mm <br />0.0038 m <br />) +
flat +  and w-shaped +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
Carex à toupet +
brown +, reddish-brown +  and reddish purple +
trigonous +
50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br /> (120 cm1,200 mm <br />1.2 m <br />) +
Ont. +, Que. +, Ark. +, Calif. +, Conn. +, Del. +, Idaho +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Maine +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Miss. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +, Vt. +, Va. +, Wis. +  and Mexico +
0–700 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Swamps and wet thickets, stream, pond, and lakeshores, depressions in wet meadows, marshes, including freshwater tidal marshes, often in shallow water or on emergent stumps, floating logs, and floating mats of vegetation +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (35 cm350 mm <br />0.35 m <br />) +
prophyllate +, pedunculate +  and pistillate +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
usually much longer than wide +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
spreading +  and reflexed +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
Fruiting Apr–Jul. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
gynaecandrous +  and staminate +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (85 cm850 mm <br />0.85 m <br />) +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
Proc. Linn. Soc. London +
adventitious +
ciliate-margined +, staminate +  and pistillate +
green +  and dark-brown +
basal +  and proximal +
lanceolate-acuminate +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
septate-nodulose +
W2 +  and Illustrated +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
persistent +
2-3(-4)-fid +
Carex comosa +
Carex sect. Vesicariae +
species +
0.21 cm2.1 mm <br />0.0021 m <br /> (0.28 cm2.8 mm <br />0.0028 m <br />) +
outcurved +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.21 cm2.1 mm <br />0.0021 m <br />) +
confluent +  and separated +
0.48 cm4.8 mm <br />0.0048 m <br /> (0.62 cm6.2 mm <br />0.0062 m <br />) +
0.62 cm6.2 mm <br />0.0062 m <br /> (0.87 cm8.7 mm <br />0.0087 m <br />) +
narrowly elliptic;lanceolate +
leathery +
0.11 cm1.1 mm <br />0.0011 m <br /> (?) +  and 0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br /> (?) +
plant +  and cespitose +