Carex ferruginea | |
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Habit | |
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Botanical illustration | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Cyperaceae |
Genus: | Carex |
Species: | C. ferruginea |
Binomial name | |
Carex ferruginea | |
Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Carex ferruginea, the rusty sedge or rust-coloured sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae. [2] [3] It is native to the Alps, the southern Carpathians, and the western Balkan Peninsula, and has been introduced to the U.S. state of New Jersey. [1] It is a glacial relict species. [4]
This species is a part of the distinctive grassland communities along the alpine chain. A phytosociological survey of the south-eastern Alps described the new ecological association Hormino pyrenaici–Caricetum ferrugineae, highlighting the independence of this flora from that of the northern Alps. [5]
The species ranges throughout the entire Alpine arc, the Jura, the southern Carpathians and parts of the Balkan Peninsula. [5]
It occupies the subalpine belt at roughly 1700–2300 metres elevation, where it builds dense, sloping meadows in sites with a constant groundwater supply—either from shallow aquifers in depressions or from the slow melt of long-lasting snow beds. On steep, freely draining slopes the prolonged snow-melt is vital for retaining soil moisture. [5]
South-eastern Alpine stands differ floristically from their northern counterparts. Diagnostic companions include the dragon's-mouth Horminum pyrenaicum , Pedicularis elongata , Potentilla crantzii , Scorzonera aristata , Knautia longifolia and Festuca norica . [5]
The meadows are dominated by C. ferruginea with frequent Carex sempervirens , Sesleria varia , Deschampsia cespitosa and F. norica beneath a conspicuous layer of flowering herbs such as Trollius europaeus , Leontodon hispidus and Veratrum album . [5]
The association is recorded from the Val d'Adige (Bolzano) eastwards to at least the Canal del Ferro (Udine), with probable extensions into the Insubrian Alps and the Alpine foothills. [5] Four sub-associations are recognised: [5]
Because these grasslands rely on very specific geomorphological, edaphic and microclimatic settings, they tend to be long-lived landscape features. Their phytogeographical distinctness underlines the autonomy of the south-eastern Alpine flora from both the northern Alpine Caricetum ferrugineae and the Illyrian Hyperico alpini–Caricetum ferrugineae communities. [5]