Carex vesicaria

Last updated

Carex vesicaria
Carex vesicaria inflorescense (21).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Carex
Subgenus: Carex subg. Carex
Section: Carex sect. Vesicariae
Species:
C. vesicaria
Binomial name
Carex vesicaria
L.

Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, [2] inflated sedge, [3] and blister sedge. [4] It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America. [5] [6]

Contents

Description

Carex vesicaria is a perennial plant with short creeping rhizomes which grow shoots resembling small tufts. It grows to heights of 30 to 120 cm (12 to 47 in). Its stems are rough near the tip but smoother towards their base. The narrow, ridged and pleated leaves can grow to around 1 m (3.3 ft) in length or more, and have fine toothed edges and sharp points. The fruits are erect, glossy and bulbous. [7] The flower clusters are long and cylindrical in shape and each contains up to 150 developing fruits. [4]

Taxonomy

Carex vesicaria was first formally named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. [8] Many forms and varieties have been named, but no infraspecific taxa of Carex vesicaria are accepted in Kew's Plants of the World Online as of March 2020. [9]

Distribution

Bladder sedge has a circumpolar, boreo-temperate distribution. [10] It is native to northern North America being recorded over most of Canada and the northern United States, as far south as California. It can also be found in nearly all of northern Europe and northern Asia as far as Japan and Korea. [1] It is widespread in Britain and Ireland although it is absent from the Orkney and Shetland and very rare in the Western Isles. [2]

Habitat

Carex vesicaria grows in damp habitats, mostly in mesotrophic soils which are slightly basic, in areas where the water table is at or above the soil surface. It grows along edge of many types of waterbodies, as well as damp depressions in pastures and in wet woodlands. It can also colonise wet areas Where pits have been created for extraction of aggregates such as sand, gravel, or clay.

In Britain it has an altitude range of 0–455 m (0–1,493 ft) with the highest plants being found at Llyn Gorast in Cardiganshire. [10]

Uses

Harvesting sennegrass Harvesting Carex vesicaria in Forstevann.jpg
Harvesting sennegrass

Carex vesicaria was cultivated in North America by indigenous people as its rhizomes were used for basketry, [6] The dried fibres, were sometimes used as thermal insulation in footwear in polar regions, are known as sennegrass, saennegrass or similar, from the plant's Bokmål name sennegras. [5]

Related Research Articles

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

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>Dulichium arundinaceum</i> Species of grass-like plant

Dulichium is a monotypic genus of sedge containing the single species Dulichium arundinaceum, which is known by the common name threeway sedge. This is an aquatic or semi-aquatic plant of the lakes, streams, and ponds of the United States and Canada It has a wide distribution across the two countries, though noticeably absent from the Dakotas and from the Southwestern Deserts.

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

Carex pendula is a large sedge of the genus Carex. It occurs in woodland, scrubland, hedges and beside streams, preferring damp, heavy clay soils. It is sometimes grown as a garden plant because of its distinctive appearance.

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

Carex buxbaumii is a species of sedge known as Buxbaum's sedge or club sedge. It is native to much of the northern Northern Hemisphere, from Alaska to Greenland to Eurasia, and including most of Canada and the United States. It grows in wet habitat, such as marshes and fens. This sedge grows in clumps from long rhizomes. The stems are 75–100 cm (30–39 in) in maximum height. The leaves are narrow and small. The inflorescence has a bract which is sometimes longer than the spikes. The fruits have dark-colored bracts and a sac called a perigynium or utricle which is gray-green and rough in texture.

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

Carex emoryi, the riverbank tussock sedge or Emory's sedge, is a species of sedge native to Canada, the United States, and the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila in northern Mexico.

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

Carex pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family commonly called Pennsylvania sedge. Other common names include early sedge, common oak sedge, and yellow sedge.

<i>Elachista serricornis</i> Species of moth

Elachista serricornis is a moth of the family Elachistidae found in Europe.

<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>Scirpus ancistrochaetus</i> Species of grass-like plant

Scirpus ancistrochaetus is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names barbedbristle bulrush and northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire south to Virginia. It used to be found in Quebec but it is now thought to be extirpated there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species.

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

Carex vaginata is a species of sedge known by the common name sheathed sedge.

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

Carex barrattii is a species of sedge known as Barratt's sedge. It is endemic to the United States, where it occurs on the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Connecticut south to Georgia and Alabama. It also occurs in the southern Appalachians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llyn Bodgylched</span>

Llyn Bodgylched is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Anglesey, North Wales, to the west of Beaumaris. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since January 1968 in an attempt to protect its fragile biological elements, mainly a swamp. The site has an area of 16.37 hectares and is managed by Natural Resources Wales.

<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.

Carex aperta, known as Columbian sedge, is a species of sedge that was first described by Francis Boott in 1839. It is native to eastern Russia, northern China, western Canada, and the northwestern United States. It grows in wet meadows, along shorelines, and in other wet habitats.

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

Carex conjuncta, known as soft fox sedge, is a species of sedge that was first formally named by Francis Boott in 1862. It is endemic to the central and eastern United States.

<i>Carex elongata</i> Species of plant in the genus Carex

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 peckii, Peck's sedge, Peck's oak sedge, or white-tinged sedge, is a species of sedge native to Canada and the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 Lansdown, R.V. (2014). "Carex vesicaria". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014: e.T167846A42370710. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T167846A42370710.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Carex vesicaria". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. Brouillet L, Desmet P, Coursol F, Meades SJ, Favreau M, Anions M, Bélisle P, Gendreau C, Shorthouse D, et al. (2010). "Carex vesicaria Linnaeus". Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Blister Sedge Carex vesicaria". California Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 Bernadette Hince (2000). The Antarctic Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Antarctic English. Csiro Publishing. ISBN   0643102329 . Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Carex vesicaria". Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  7. "Bladder sedge". Naturespot Recording the Wildlife of Leicestershire and Rutland. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  8. "Carex vesicaria L." ipni.org. International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  9. "Carex vesicaria L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Carex vesicaria". Online Atlas of British and Irish Flora. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 22 March 2020.