Carex mitchelliana

M. A. Curtis

Amer. J. Sci. Arts 44: 84. 1843.

IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Carex crinita var. mitchelliana (M. A. Curtis) Gleason
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 387. Mentioned on page 380, 386.

Plants cespitose. Culms acutely angled, 40–140 cm, scabrous. Leaves: basal sheaths brown; sheaths of proximal leaves bladeless, scabrous, fronts red-brown to copper-brown, spots absent, indistinctly ladder-fibrillose, apex U-shaped; blades hypostomic, 13–35 cm × 3–8 mm, papillose abaxially. Inflorescences: peduncle of proximal spike 0.6–3 cm; proximal bract longer than inflorescence, 1.5–6.2 mm wide. Spikes 2–4 pistillate, 1–2 staminate; pendent; proximal pistillate spike 3.1–7.9 cm × 3.6–7.4 mm. Pistillate scales pale to copper-brown; 2.9–6.3 mm (including awn), apex of body truncate, awned, scabrous. Perigynia ascending, pale brown, 1–5-veined abaxially or veinless, scarcely inflated, loosely enclosing achenes, ovoid, 2.5–3.9 × 1.3–2.1 mm, dull, apex acute, papillose over entire surface; beak 0.1–0.3 mm. Achenes not constricted. 2n = 66.


Phenology: Fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Swamps, floodplain forests, wet meadows, stream edges, margins of lakes and ponds, roadside ditches
Elevation: 0–500 m

Distribution

V23 685-distribution-map.jpg

Ala., Del., Fla., Ga., Ky., Md., Mass., Miss., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Va.

Discussion

No specimens are known from Connecticut; Carex mitchelliana may be expected to occur there. The species is known from fewer than 100 extinct and extant populations located predominantly along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from Massachusetts to Alabama. Allozyme data demonstrated that the taxon, although not common, is genetically diverse and is closely related to the progenitor of the species complex (L. P. Bruederle et al. 1989).

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Carex mitchelliana"
Lisa A. Standley +, Jacques Cayouette +  and Leo Bruederle +
M. A. Curtis +
Ala. +, Del. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ky. +, Md. +, Mass. +, Miss. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +  and Va. +
0–500 m +
Swamps, floodplain forests, wet meadows, stream edges, margins of lakes and ponds, roadside ditches +
Fruiting Jun–Aug. +
Amer. J. Sci. Arts +
bruederle1989a +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
Carex crinita var. mitchelliana +
Carex mitchelliana +
Carex sect. Phacocystis +
species +