Carex pigra Naczi

Description

Description: Perennial herb, densely caespitose. Rhizomes short, 0.2-6 mm long between shoots or branches of the rhizomes, with internodes 0.2-4.2 mm long, 1.2-2.8 mm thick, covered with cataphylls 2-5 mm long. Shoot bases usually surrounded by cataphylls but not by bases of old leaves, stramineous. Reproductive shoots 10-51 cm tall, erect to spreading, elongating slightly in fruit; culms 0.6-1.3 mm wide at mid-height, smooth throughout, obtusely trigonous. Cataphylls glabrous, stramineous to whitish, multicostate. Leaves of reproductive shoots 2-5, arising in basal 0.004-0.13 of culms, the longest 0.37-0.85 times as long as culms; blades 4.8-20 cm long, 3.8-12.3 mm wide, the widest 6.1-12.3 mm wide, glaucous, flat to barely plicate, margins smooth or antrorsely scaberulous, adaxial surface smooth or sparsely antrorsely scaberulous on main veins, abaxial surface smooth; leaf sheaths 1.7-4.7 cm long, loose, glabrous, glaucous with bases whitish or stramineous; adaxial face of sheaths with hyaline and glabrous band, hyaline band with apex slightly concave to slightly convex; ligules 3.8-6.8 mm long, lingulate with apex obtuse. Vegetative shoots 13-33 cm tall, 0.50-0.82 times as tall as culms; leaves 4-6, similar to those of culms except blades 6.3-27 cm long; pseudoculms 2.1-6.9 cm tall, 3.2-5.2 mm wide, 0.15-0.22 of vegetative shoot height. Infructescences 8.7-47 cm long, 0.71-0.93 of culm height, usually with the upper 2-3 spikes overlapping, rarely with all spikes separate; the uppermost lateral spikes 0.3-11.4 cm distant; the lower spikes separate, 4.0-18 cm distant; lowest bract with blade 6.2-18 cm long and 0.31-0.70 times as long as culm, sheath 0.9-4.7 cm long, adaxial face of sheath with glabrous and hyaline band occupying full length or a portion of sheath, hyaline band with apex slightly convex and elongated 0.2-2.2 mm above sheath apex, sheath glabrous abaxially, ligule (3.0-) 5.2-10.2 mm long; bract blade of uppermost lateral spike 1.3-9.1 cm long and slightly shorter than terminal spike to much exceeding terminal spike, sheath 1.4-8.8 mm long and glabrous; uppermost bract scale-like, sheathless, body 3.2-6.7 mm long and awn 0-13.6 mm long. Spikes (3-) 4-6, simple, single at nodes, erect; terminal spike 0.6-3.2 cm long, the longest 0.9-3.2 cm long, 1.8-3.3 mm wide, entirely staminate, 8-93-flowered, on erect and smooth peduncle 1.5-37 (-62) mm long, usually overlapping uppermost lateral spike and slightly exceeding it or slightly exceeded by it, rarely exceeding uppermost lateral spike and separate from it; lowest spike 0.8-2.3 cm long, 3.3-4.6 mm wide, entirely pistillate, 5-16-flowered, the perigynia spirally and loosely imbricate, the internode between the lowest perigynia 0.6-3.3 mm long, on erect, smooth peduncle 1.8-11 cm long; upper lateral spikes 0.8-3.2 cm long, 4.0-6.1 (-6.8) mm wide, entirely pistillate and 9-25 (-28)-flowered, the perigynia spirally and loosely imbricate, spike length (in mm)/number of flowers ratio (0.97-) 1.0-1.3 (-1.6), on erect and smooth peduncles 0.4-8.4 cm long. Staminate scales (3.9-) 4.5-5.3 mm long, 1.6-2.0 mm wide, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, acute to acuminate, awnless, center green and 1-nerved, margins hyaline and whitish or whitish with ferrugineous speckles and streaks. Pistillate scales 1.9-3.2 (-4.5) mm long, 1.3-2.2 mm wide; body (1.7-) 1.9-2.4 (-2.6) mm long, (0.40-) 0.45-0.59 (-0.67) times as long as perigynium, broadly ovate or ovate, awnless or with midrib prolonged as sparsely antrorsely scaberulous awn 0.1-0.9 (-1.9) mm long, center green and 1-3 (-6)-nerved, margins entire, hyaline, pale ferrugineous to whitish. Anthers 3, 1.6-2.6 mm long. Styles jointed with achenes, portion distal to achene withering with age, portion proximal to achene persistent and becoming achene beak; base 0.15-0.20 wide. Stigmas 3, 1.0-1.6 mm long, withering with age. Perigynia (3.7-) 3.9-4.5 (-4.7) mm long, 1.5-2.2 mm wide, (1.9-) 2.1-2.6 (-2.8) times as long as wide, (1.7-) 1.8-2.0 times as long as achene bodies, ascending, obtusely triangular in cross section, faces slightly convex to flat, nerves shallowly impressed and 42-56, glabrous, glaucous to red-brown, narrowly ovoid or lance-ovoid, very gradually tapered from widest point to broad and truncate base, gradually tapered to straight and subacute or acute apex, beakless or with minute beak; beaks 0-0.2 (-0.4) mm long, 0-0.05 (-0.11) of perigynium length, straight, smooth, entire. Achenes 2.6-3.1 mm long, (1.3-) 1.4-1.6 mm wide, loosely enveloped by perigynia, obovoid, obtusely trigonous, faces slightly concave to flat, brown, basally abruptly contracted to stipe, apically abruptly contracted to beak; stipe 0.1-0.3 (-0.5) mm long, usually vertical; body (2.0-) 2.1-2.4 (-2.5) mm long, with widest point 0.7-1.1 mm from body apex; beak (0.1-) 0.2-0.4 (-0.5) mm long, bent (0-) 30-90° from vertical.

Distribution: U.S.A. (AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA).

Habitat: Mesic or wet-mesic deciduous forests, occasionally moist prairies and openings.

Map Distribution

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