Carex barbarae

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Carex barbarae
Santa Barbara sedge.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Carex
Subgenus: Carex subg. Carex
Section: Carex sect. Phacocystis
Species:
C. barbarae
Binomial name
Carex barbarae

Carex barbarae is a species of sedge known as Santa Barbara sedge.

Contents

Description

This sedge produces angled, hairless stems up to one meter tall or slightly taller, but not in clumps. The tough leaves are narrow with shredding, red-spotted or purple basal sheaths. The inflorescence produces erect and drooping spikes up to about 8 centimeters long with an associated long bract which exceeds the length of the spikes. The fruits are covered in a sac called a perigynium which is light to dark brown and sometimes red-spotted, leathery and tough, and sometimes with a toothed, hairy tip. The plant rarely matures into a fruiting stage, however, with most individuals remaining sterile. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Santa Barbara sedge is native to the western United States, in California and Oregon. It grows in wet and seasonally wet habitat, such as meadows and riverbanks.

Uses

Parts of this sedge were used in basketry and as sewing fiber by California Native American groups such as the Maidu and Pomo. [2]

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.

Carex amplifolia is a species of sedge known by the common name bigleaf sedge. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Montana to California, where it grows in wet and seasonally wet areas in coniferous forests.

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

Carex angustata is a species of sedge known by the common name widefruit sedge. It is native to the western United States from Washington and Idaho to California, where it grows in wet meadows and on streambanks.

Carex arcta is a species of sedge known by the common name northern cluster sedge. It is native to northern North America including most of Canada and northern parts of the United States. It grows in wet areas, especially in coniferous forests. This sedge produces dense clumps of erect stems up to about 80 centimetres (31 in) high. The leaves are pale green to grayish, flat, and have reddish or purple-dotted sheaths at the base, and they are sometimes longer than the stems. The inflorescence is a dense, oblong cluster of up to 15 spikes of pointed flowers, each cluster up to 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) long and each individual spike up to 1 cm (0.39 in) long. The fruit is covered in a sac called a perigynium which is greenish and veined with a reddish tip.

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

Carex atherodes is a species of sedge known by the common name wheat sedge. It is native to Eurasia and much of North America including most of Canada and the United States. It is a very common wetland plant across the American Midwest and areas west. It grows in moist and wet habitat, such as marshes and moist prairie land, and it may grow in shallow water. This sedge produces triangular, hollow stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall. The leaves are hairy, especially on the lower parts, and the leaf sheath is tinted with reddish purple. The inflorescence is up to 60 centimeters long and made up of several spikes; those spikes near the tip are usually staminate, and those lower in the inflorescence are usually pistillate. The tip of each fruit has two or more long, thin teeth.

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

Carex comosa is a species of sedge known as longhair sedge and bristly sedge. It is native to North America, where it grows in western and eastern regions of Canada and the United States, and parts of Mexico. It grows in wet places, including meadows and many types of wetlands. Tolerates deeper water than most common species and is good for retention basins. This sedge produces clumps of triangular stems up to 100 or 120 centimeters tall from short rhizomes. The inflorescence is up to 35 centimeters long and has a long bract which is longer than the spikes. It is a cluster of several cylindrical spikes. The scales over the fruits taper into long, thin awns.

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

Carex cusickii is a species of sedge known by the common name Cusick's sedge. It is native to Northwestern North America from British Columbia to California, and in Utah, where it can be found in several types of wet habitat, such as marshes, mountain meadows, and ditches. In its range it is most common in the Cascade Range and areas west.

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

Carex hassei is a species of sedge known by the common name salt sedge. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Baja California to New Mexico, where it grows in moist places, such as meadows.

<i>Carex hystericina</i> Species of plant

Carex hystericina is a species of sedge known by the common names bottlebrush sedge and porcupine sedge. It is native to much of North America including most of southern Canada and most of the United States. It grows in wet habitat such as wetlands and riverbanks, especially on calcareous soils. In the right conditions it can become very abundant and even weedy. This sedge produces dense or loose clumps of triangular stems up to a meter tall from short rhizomes. The inflorescence is several centimeters long and is accompanied by a bract which is longer than the spikes. The fruits are coated in perigynia with pointed, toothed tips. It is highly recommend for sedge meadow restorations.

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

Carex molesta is a species of sedge known by the common name troublesome sedge. It is native to eastern and central North America, where it grows in varied wet and dry habitats, performs equally well in full sun and partial shade, including disturbed areas such as roadsides. It is an introduced species and often a weed in California. This sedge produces clumps of stems up to about a meter tall, with several narrow leaves up to about 35 centimetres (14 in) long. The inflorescence is an open cluster of green spherical spikes each 0.5 to 1.5 centimetres long.

<i>Carex nebrascensis</i> Species of sedge

Carex nebrascensis is a species of sedge known as Nebraska sedge.

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

Carex obnupta is a species of sedge known by the common name slough sedge. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California where it grows abundantly in wet, often saline habitat such as wetlands. The plant produces upright, angled stems approaching 1.2 meters in maximum height, growing in beds or colonies from rhizome networks. The inflorescence is a cluster of flower spikes accompanied by a long leaflike bract. The pistillate spikes and sometimes the staminate spikes dangle on peduncles. The fruit is coated by a hard, tough, shiny perigynium which is generally dark in color.

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

Carex pansa is a species of sedge known by the common name sand dune sedge. It is native to coast of western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in dunes and other sandy habitat. This grasslike sedge produces sharply triangular stems up to about 40 centimeters tall from a network of thin, long, coarse rhizomes. The inflorescence is a cluster of several spikes of dark brownish flowers. The plant sometimes produces only male or female flowers in its inflorescences, but not both. This sedge is sometimes used as a grass substitute in local landscaping schemes.

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

Carex praegracilis is a species of North American sedge known as clustered field sedge, field sedge, and expressway sedge. Carex praegracilis is cultivated in the specialty horticulture trade as lawn substitute and meadow-like plantings.

<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 spissa</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex spissa is a species of sedge known by the common name San Diego sedge. It is native to the southwestern United States in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and far northern Mexico. It grows in wet places such as seeps and streambanks, sometimes on serpentine soils. This sedge looks somewhat like a cattail. It produces angled stems easily exceeding a meter in height surrounded by leathery green to reddish leaves up to about 1.2 meters long. The inflorescence is up to 80 centimeters long, with many long reddish brown flower spikes, each holding up to 300 developing fruits.

<i>Cyperus strigosus</i> Species of plant

Cyperus strigosus is a species of sedge known by the common names false nutsedge and straw-colored flatsedge. It is native to the United States, Cuba and Canada, where it grows in wet areas in many habitat types, including disturbed and cultivated areas such as roadsides and crop fields. It is common and sometimes weedy. It is a perennial sedge growing up to 70 centimetres tall. The inflorescence is a cluster of many linear-shaped spikelets up to 3 centimetres long each. A few long, leaf-like bracts grow at the base of the spike.

<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 livida</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex livida is a species of sedge known by the common names livid sedge and pale sedge.

<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.

References