Carex appressa

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Carex appressa
Carex appressa (3438025070).jpg
Carex appressa flowerhead2 NC - Flickr - Macleay Grass Man.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Carex
Species:
C. appressa
Binomial name
Carex appressa
Carex appressaDistMapWorld.png
Australasian occurrence data from AVH

Carex appressa, commonly known as the tall sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. [1]

Contents

Description

Carex appressa is a densely tufted, perennial sedge that forms clumps up to 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. Its stems grow to around 100 cm (39 in) in height, and are hard and solid, becoming rough towards the top of the stem. Its leaves are 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide, are rough on the margins, and grow mostly out of the base of the plant. It has a brownish, spike-like inflorescence made of 20 or more spikes, growing 5–25 cm (2.0–9.8 in) long. Its flowers are numerous oval-shaped brownish spikelets that are approximately 5 mm (0.20 in) long, with both male and female flowers mixed together in the spikes. Its nut is contained in a flattened, oval-shaped, beaked, hairless sack or utricle that is 3–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long. [2] [3]

Auckland Museum (AM AK351569) Carex appressa R.Br. (AM AK351569).jpg
Auckland Museum (AM AK351569)

Habitat and ecology

Carex appressa occurs in swamps, watercourses, and occasionally in water. [2] It is native to Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and generally in the South West Pacific. [4] It also serves as a larval food plant for Heteronympha cordace. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Carex</i> Genus of flowering plants in the sedge family Cyperaceae

Carex is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.

<i>Howittia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Howittia is a genus of plant containing the single species, Howittia trilocularis, commonly known as blue howittia, and is endemic to Australia. It is a tall shrub found growing in shaded valleys and on rainforest edges, it has hairy leaves and single, purple flowers.

<i>Carex rossii</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex rossii, commonly known as Ross's sedge, is a hardy species of sedge that is often a pioneer species in areas with little or no established vegetation, or in places where disturbance has occurred. Ross's sedge grows in a variety of habitats throughout much of western North America, from Alaska to Ontario, south to New Mexico and California. It flowers in May and June.

<i>Carex riparia</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex riparia, the greater pond sedge, is a species of sedge found across Europe and Asia. It grows in a variety of wet habitats, and can be a dominant species in some swamps. It is Britain's largest Carex, growing up to 130 cm tall, with glaucous leaves up to 160 cm long. It hybridises with a number of other Carex species, including the closely related Carex acutiformis – the lesser pond sedge. A variegated cultivar is grown as an ornamental grass.

<i>Carex hirta</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex hirta, the hairy sedge or hammer sedge, is a species of sedge native across Europe. It has characteristic hairy leaves and inflorescences, and is the type species of the genus Carex.

<i>Carex binervis</i> European species of sedge with an Atlantic distribution

Carex binervis, the green-ribbed sedge, is a European species of sedge with an Atlantic distribution. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Iberian Peninsula, and occurs in heaths, moorland and other damp, acidic environments. It typically grows to a height of 15–120 cm (6–50 in), and has inflorescences comprising one male and several female spikes, each up to 45 mm (1.8 in) long. The utricles have two conspicuous green veins, which give rise to both the scientific name and the common name of the species. In the vegetative state, it closely resembles C. bigelowii, a species that usually grows at higher altitude. C. binervis was first described by James Edward Smith in 1800, and is classified in Carex sect. Spirostachyae; several hybrids with other Carex species are known.

<i>Carex spicata</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex spicata is a species of sedge in the genus Carex.

<i>Carex pilulifera</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex pilulifera, the pill sedge, is a European species of sedge found in acid heaths, woods and grassland from Macaronesia to Scandinavia. It grows up to 30 cm (12 in) tall, with 2–4 female spikes and 1 male spike in an inflorescence. These stalks bend as the seeds ripen, and the seeds are collected and dispersed by ants of the species Myrmica ruginodis.

<i>Carex sylvatica</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex sylvatica is a species of sedge found in deciduous woodlands across Europe. It typically reaches 60 cm (24 in) tall, and has an inflorescence made up of 3–5 pendent female spikes and a single male spike. It is also used as a garden plant, and has been introduced to North America and New Zealand.

<i>Carex lacustris</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex lacustris, known as lake sedge, is a tufted grass-like perennial of the sedge family (Cyperaceae), native to southern Canada and the northern United States. C. lacustris us an herbaceous surface-piercing plant that grows in water up to 50 cm (1.6 ft) deep, and grows 50–150 cm (1.6–4.9 ft) tall. It grows well in marshes and swampy woods of the boreal forest, along river and lake shores, in ditches, marshes, swamps, and other wetland habitat. It grows on muck, sedge peat, wet sand or silt, in filtered or full sunlight.

<i>Carex eburnea</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex eburnea, known as ivory sedge, ebony sedge, and bristleleaf or bristle-leaved sedge, is a small and slender sedge native to North America, from Alaska and Newfoundland south to central Mexico.

<i>Carex pulicaris</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex pulicaris, the flea sedge, is a species of sedge in the genus Carex native to Europe.

Eremophila appressa, commonly known as wispy poverty bush, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to two remote locations in the central west of Western Australia. Its most unusual feature is its leaves which, at least when young, are less than 2.5 mm (0.1 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) wide and are glued to the stem by resin.

<i>Carex sprengelii</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex sprengelii, known as Sprengel's sedge and long-beaked sedge, is a sedge with hanging seed heads, native to North America.

<i>Carex pumila</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex pumila, commonly known as strand sedge or spreading sedge, is a species of sedge of the family Cyperaceae.

<i>Carex novae-angliae</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex novae-angliae, the New England sedge, is a Carex species that is native to North America.

<i>Carex brevior</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex brevior, known as shortbeak sedge and plains oval sedge, is a species of sedge native to North America. The specific epithet brevior means "shorter" in Latin.

<i>Hovea rosmarinifolia</i> Species of legume

Hovea rosmarinifolia, commonly known as mountain beauty or rosemary hovea is a shrub in the family Fabaceae, native to Australia. A small shrub bearing attractive blue-purple or mauve pea flowers from August to November.

<i>Carex bicolor</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex bicolor, the bicoloured sedge, is a species of sedge native to North America, Northern Europe and Northern Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the plant's conservation status as being of least concern because it has a widespread distribution and faces no particular threats.

<i>Carex baileyi</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex baileyi is a sedge in section Vesicariae the genus Carex native to the Appalachian mountains in Eastern North America. It is commonly called Bailey's sedge. Carex baileyi was named in honor of Liberty Hyde Bailey by its discoverer, Nathaniel_Lord_Britton.

References

  1. K. L. Wilson (2011). "Carex appressa". PlantNET – FloraOnline. New South Wales Flora Online. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 GM Cunningham; Geoffrey McIver Cunningham (2011). Plants of Western New South Wales (illustrated ed.). Csiro Publishing. p. 155. ISBN   9780643103634.
  3. Judith Roderick Wheeler; N. G. Marchant; Margaret Lewington (2002). Flora of the South West: Bunbury, Augusta, Denmark. UWA Publishing. p. 267. ISBN   9780642568144.
  4. John H. Wiersema; Blanca León (2016). World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference (illustrated ed.). CRC Press. p. 143. ISBN   9781466576810.
  5. Ross Field (2013). Butterflies: Identification and life history (revised ed.). Museum Victoria. p. 188. ISBN   9781921833328.

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