| Carex spicata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Carex |
| Subgenus: | Carex subg. Vignea |
| Section: | Carex sect. Phaestoglochin |
| Species: | C. spicata |
| Binomial name | |
| Carex spicata | |
| Synonyms | |
Carex contigua Hoppe | |
Carex spicata is a species of sedge in the genus Carex.
The culms of Carex spicata are 10–85 centimetres (4–33 in) long and approximately triangular in section. [1] The leaves are 7–45 cm (3–18 in) long and 2–4 millimetres (0.08–0.16 in) wide, with a distinct keel. [1] The ligule, at the base of the leaf, is 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long, with a large amount of loose white tissue. [1] C. spicata differs from the other species in Carex section Phaestoglochin by the presence of a purple pigment in the roots, leaf sheaths and bracts. [1]
The inflorescence is 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) long, and comprises 3–8 spikes. Each spike is 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with female (pistillate) flowers at the base, and male (staminate) flowers at the tip. [1]
Carex spicata has a European temperate distribution, although it has been extensively naturalised outside this native range. [2]
Carex spicata is usually found in grassland (usually in British NVC community MG10 in the British Isles), on roadsides, and in waste ground. [1] It is found on heavy, slightly base-rich soils, and cannot tolerate much competition. [2]
Carex spicata was first described by the English botanist William Hudson in his 1762 work Flora Anglica . [3]
It is known in the British Isles as "spiked sedge", [1] [4] in North America as "spicate sedge" [5] or "prickly sedge". [6] In Irish it is called cíb spícíneach, [7] and in Welsh, its name is hesgen dywysennog borffor, [8] hesgen dywysennog [9] or hesgen ysbigog borffor. [10]
Few hybrids have been reported between C. spicata and other members of Carex sect. Phaestoglochin, but hybrids have been reported between C. spicata and C. otrubae , and between C. spicata and C. echinata . [1]
Mentha longifolia is a species in the genus Mentha (mint) native to Europe excluding Britain and Ireland, western and central Asia, and northern and southern Africa.
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.
Viola lutea, the mountain pansy, is a species of violet that grows in Europe, from the British Isles to the Balkans.
Drosera anglica, commonly known as the English sundew or great sundew, is a carnivorous flowering plant species belonging to the sundew family Droseraceae. It is a temperate species with a circumboreal range, although it does occur as far south as Japan, southern Europe, and the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where it grows as a tropical sundew. It is thought to originate from an amphidiploid hybrid of D. rotundifolia and D. linearis, meaning that a sterile hybrid between these two species doubled its chromosomes to produce fertile progeny which stabilized into the current D. anglica.
Carex pauciflora, known as few-flowered sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to bogs and fens in cool temperate, subarctic, and mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The specific epithet pauciflora refers to the Latin term for 'few flowered'.
Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, inflated sedge, and blister sedge. It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America.
Carex acutiformis, the lesser pond-sedge, is a species of sedge.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Scutellaria minor, the lesser skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae.
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.
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.
Carex pseudocyperus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name cyperus sedge or hop sedge. It grows in marshes, swamps, and the margins of ponds, rivers and canals. The stems can be up to 90 centimetres (35 in) with one male spike and 3 to 5 pendulous female spikes, and bright yellow-green leaves to 1.2 metres.
Carex pulicaris, the flea sedge, is a species of sedge in the genus Carex native to Europe.
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.
Carex remota, the remote sedge, is a species in the genus Carex, native to Europe, the Atlas Mountains in Africa, and western Asia. It is a riparian forest specialist. It is known as one of the most frequently hybridizing species of Carex, forming hybrids with C. appropinquata, C. arenaria, C. brizoides, C. canescens, C. divulsa, C. echinata, C. elongata, C. leporina, C. otrubae, C. paniculata, and C. spicata.
Carex elongata, the elongated sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to Europe, the Caucasus, western Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Altai. It occurs in boggy woodland and wet meadows, where it forms dense tussocks up to about 1 m tall.
Carex deweyanaDewey's sedge, short-scale sedge, is a species of sedge native to Canada and the United States.
Media related to Carex spicata at Wikimedia Commons