OregonFlora species comparison

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Carex feta

Carex tiogana

green-sheath sedge

Tioga Pass sedge
Habit Plants cespitose, 50–100 cm tall. Plants cespitose, 1.8–7.5 cm tall.
Leaves

sheath fronts green and veined throughout; except for a white-hyaline triangle to 6 mm long near the top, sometimes prolonged 1.5–6 mm above the base of the blade;

blades (2.5)3–4(5) mm wide.

1.5–3 mm wide, falcate, with serrulate margins and the midrib serrulate at least in the distal 33%.
Inflorescences

3.5–8 cm × 10– 13 mm, elongated but with overlapping spikes, green to straw-colored;

spikes ovate, gynaecandrous.

bracts with well-developed sheaths;

lateral spikes female, with 3–9 perigynia; the lower erect to nodding; terminal spike male, 0.35–0.5 cm long.
Perigynia

ovate to broadly ovate, 3.2–4.2 × 1.7–2.1 mm, green, white, or straw-colored, with 1–8 veins on each face;

beak white or straw-colored at tip, winged and ciliate-serrulate; (1.5)1.8–2.4 mm from top of achene to tip of beak;

stigmas 2.

oblong- ovate, 1.2–2.1 × 0.4–1 mm; straw-colored to brown; veinless but with 2 marginal ribs, usually with a few curved spines on the distal margins;

beak 0.2–0.5 mm long;

stigmas 3.
Achenes

lenticular; (1.3)1.5–1.8 × 0.9–1.2 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick.

trigonous.
Female scales

2.7–3.5 mm long; shorter and narrower than the perigynia, white hyaline or straw-colored;

midrib green; straw-colored, or brown.

obtuse to acuminate; shorter but wider than the perigynia, mostly white with scabrous; gold midrib, falling before the perigynia.

Carex feta

Carex tiogana
Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Wet meadows and prairies, margins of marshes and road ditches. 100–1500 m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; north to British Columbia, WY. Native.

The neat, tidy appearance, overall green inflorescence, green leaf sheath fronts, and low elevation west-side range identify C. feta. Similar C. fracta is a coarser, sloppier plant with white-hyaline leaf sheath fronts and silvery inflorescences. The leaf sheath front of C. scoparia has such a narrow white-hyaline center that it can appear entirely green, but its usually curving inflorescence has a much finer texture with acuminate female scales and pointed perigynia, and its longer perigynia taper more gradually to the beak. See also discussions of C. longii and C. tribuloides, which have green sheath fronts.

Rocky benches in cirques with thin soil kept wet by snowmelt. 2700–2800 m. BR. CA. Native.

Carex tiogana is a tiny, alpine sedge with arching leaves and small brown perigynia subtended by largely white female scales that fall early. At first glance, it might be dismissed as a small alpine grass, perhaps an Agrostis. Carex tiogana is an alpine relative of C. capillaris, a taller plant with flat leaves and larger perigynia. In C. capillaris, the midrib of the female scales and the margins and midribs of its leaves are usually smooth.
Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 200
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting		 Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 230
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Sibling taxa
C. abrupta, C. agastachys, C. amplifolia, C. angustata, C. aperta, C. aquatilis, C. arcta, C. arenaria, C. atherodes, C. athrostachya, C. atrosquama, C. aurea, C. barbarae, C. bebbii, C. bolanderi, C. brainerdii, C. brevior, C. breweri, C. buchananii, C. buxbaumii, C. californica, C. canescens, C. capillaris, C. capitata, C. chordorrhiza, C. comans, C. comosa, C. concinna, C. concinnoides, C. cordillerana, C. crawfordii, C. cusickii, C. davyi, C. deflexa, C. densa, C. diandra, C. disperma, C. distans, C. douglasii, C. duriuscula, C. echinata, C. exsiccata, C. filifolia, C. fissuricola, C. fracta, C. geyeri, C. gynocrates, C. gynodynama, C. halliana, C. harfordii, C. hassei, C. haydeniana, C. hendersonii, C. heteroneura, C. hirsutella, C. hirta, C. hoodii, C. hystericina, C. idahoa, C. illota, C. infirminervia, C. inops, C. integra, C. interior, C. interrupta, C. jonesii, C. kelloggii, C. klamathensis, C. kobomugi, C. laeviculmis, C. lasiocarpa, C. leporina, C. leporinella, C. leptalea, C. leptopoda, C. limosa, C. livida, C. longii, C. luzulina, C. lyngbyei, C. macrocephala, C. macrochaeta, C. media, C. mendocinensis, C. mertensii, C. mesochorea, C. micropoda, C. microptera, C. multicaulis, C. nardina, C. nebrascensis, C. nervina, C. neurophora, C. nigricans, C. nudata, C. obnupta, C. pachycarpa, C. pachystachya, C. pansa, C. paysonis, C. pellita, C. pelocarpa, C. pendula, C. petasata, C. phaeocephala, C. pluriflora, C. praeceptorum, C. praegracilis, C. praticola, C. preslii, C. pumila, C. raynoldsii, C. retrorsa, C. rossii, C. saxatilis, C. scabriuscula, C. scirpoidea, C. scoparia, C. scopulorum, C. serpenticola, C. serratodens, C. sheldonii, C. simulata, C. spectabilis, C. stipata, C. straminiformis, C. subbracteata, C. subfusca, C. subnigricans, C. sychnocephala, C. tahoensis, C. tiogana, C. tribuloides, C. tumulicola, C. unilateralis, C. utriculata, C. vallicola, C. vernacula, C. vesicaria, C. viridula, C. vulpinoidea, C. whitneyi, C. zikae
C. abrupta, C. agastachys, C. amplifolia, C. angustata, C. aperta, C. aquatilis, C. arcta, C. arenaria, C. atherodes, C. athrostachya, C. atrosquama, C. aurea, C. barbarae, C. bebbii, C. bolanderi, C. brainerdii, C. brevior, C. breweri, C. buchananii, C. buxbaumii, C. californica, C. canescens, C. capillaris, C. capitata, C. chordorrhiza, C. comans, C. comosa, C. concinna, C. concinnoides, C. cordillerana, C. crawfordii, C. cusickii, C. davyi, C. deflexa, C. densa, C. diandra, C. disperma, C. distans, C. douglasii, C. duriuscula, C. echinata, C. exsiccata, C. feta, C. filifolia, C. fissuricola, C. fracta, C. geyeri, C. gynocrates, C. gynodynama, C. halliana, C. harfordii, C. hassei, C. haydeniana, C. hendersonii, C. heteroneura, C. hirsutella, C. hirta, C. hoodii, C. hystericina, C. idahoa, C. illota, C. infirminervia, C. inops, C. integra, C. interior, C. interrupta, C. jonesii, C. kelloggii, C. klamathensis, C. kobomugi, C. laeviculmis, C. lasiocarpa, C. leporina, C. leporinella, C. leptalea, C. leptopoda, C. limosa, C. livida, C. longii, C. luzulina, C. lyngbyei, C. macrocephala, C. macrochaeta, C. media, C. mendocinensis, C. mertensii, C. mesochorea, C. micropoda, C. microptera, C. multicaulis, C. nardina, C. nebrascensis, C. nervina, C. neurophora, C. nigricans, C. nudata, C. obnupta, C. pachycarpa, C. pachystachya, C. pansa, C. paysonis, C. pellita, C. pelocarpa, C. pendula, C. petasata, C. phaeocephala, C. pluriflora, C. praeceptorum, C. praegracilis, C. praticola, C. preslii, C. pumila, C. raynoldsii, C. retrorsa, C. rossii, C. saxatilis, C. scabriuscula, C. scirpoidea, C. scoparia, C. scopulorum, C. serpenticola, C. serratodens, C. sheldonii, C. simulata, C. spectabilis, C. stipata, C. straminiformis, C. subbracteata, C. subfusca, C. subnigricans, C. sychnocephala, C. tahoensis, C. tribuloides, C. tumulicola, C. unilateralis, C. utriculata, C. vallicola, C. vernacula, C. vesicaria, C. viridula, C. vulpinoidea, C. whitneyi, C. zikae
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from OregonFlora.



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