OregonFlora: Carex geyeri vs. Carex luzulina

	Carex geyeri	Carex luzulina
	elk sedge	spring sedge, woodrush sedge
Habit	Plants loosely cespitose or short rhizomatous, with thick, dark, shallow rhizomes; culms 12–50 cm, triangular in cross section.	Plants cespitose to short-rhizomatous, 15–90 cm tall; culms much longer than the leaves.
Leaves	1.1–3.5 mm wide; flat; evergreen; leathery; as long as or longer than the culms.	sheath fronts whitish hyaline; blades 3–9 mm wide, glabrous.
Inflorescences	spike solitary, androgynous, lacking inflorescence bracts; male terminal portion 1–2.5 cm long, separated from the 1–3 perigynia by a short internode.	lowest bracts with more or less inflated sheaths (5)10+ mm long; lateral spikes crowded around the terminal one or separated; erect and nearly sessile or the lower ones drooping on long; slender peduncles; female or androgynous, 1.2–3.2 cm long; terminal spike male, 1.1–6.6 cm long.
Perigynia	obovate, rounded at the top, 5–7(8.5) × 1.8–2.8 mm, green; whitish, or brown; beak small; stigmas 3.	(3)3.5–5.5 × 0.9–1.6(1.8) mm; either mostly purple, or green with reddish or purple spots, usually glabrous, sometimes with sparse, spreading to appressed, usually long; soft; thin hairs, with several inconspicuous veins; beak with distance from achene top to beak tip less than 2.5 mm; stigmas 3.
Achenes	trigonous.	trigonous.
Female scales	the lower longer than the perigynia; the upper reduced; more or less brown with paler midrib and margins, pointed to awned.	shorter than the perigynia; reddish brown to dark purplish with a light mid-stripe; margins sometimes white, glabrous.

	Carex geyeri	Carex luzulina
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Well-drained soils in dry, open, conifer forests, aspen stands, and openings, rarely in sagebrush, on both serpentine and nonserpentine substrates. 100–2500 m. BR, BW, Col, ECas, Lava, Owy, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to southeastern British Columbia, east to CO, PA. Native. Carex geyeri is a common ground cover in open forest, especially in northeastern Oregon, recognized by its tough, flat, evergreen leaves from dark, scaly rhizomes. Similar pinegrass, Calamagrostis rubescens, usually has hairy internodes and when in flower it is easily distinguished. Carex geyeri is important food for wildlife and livestock, especially in winter. In southwestern Oregon, C. geyeri can be confused with C. multicaulis, which is densely cespitose and has proportionately shorter, usually involute leaves, and longer, green, leaf-like, lower female scales.	Bogs and wet meadows. 600–3000 m. BR, BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to British Columbia, east to WY. Native. The broad, yellow-green leaves clustered at the base of the culm, together with the inflorescence bracts with more or less inflated sheaths, the pointy perigynia, and the reddish to purplish female scales, make C. luzulina unlike any other sedge in Oregon bogs. However, it is hard to point at any one consistent feature as identifying this species. Two varieties (sometimes treated as species) have been recognized in C. luzulina, but the traits supposedly distinguishing them vary independently. Variable C. luzulina is confused with Californian C. luzulifolia and C. fissuricola, which usually have perigynia with flat margins more than half as wide as the achene. In C. fissuricola, the perigynium faces, at least near the beak, have sparse, spreading-ascending, short, stiff bristles, and the pistillate scales have hairs on the distal margins.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 202 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 213 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. feta, C. filifolia, C. fissuricola, C. fracta, 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. 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
Synonyms		Carex ablata, Carex luzulina var. ablata, Carex luzulina var. luzulina
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Carex luzulina

elk sedge

spring sedge, woodrush sedge

Habit

Plants loosely cespitose or short rhizomatous, with thick, dark, shallow rhizomes; culms 12–50 cm, triangular in cross section.

Plants cespitose to short-rhizomatous, 15–90 cm tall; culms much longer than the leaves.

Leaves

1.1–3.5 mm wide; flat; evergreen; leathery; as long as or longer than the culms.

sheath fronts whitish hyaline;

blades 3–9 mm wide, glabrous.

Inflorescences

spike solitary, androgynous, lacking inflorescence bracts; male terminal portion 1–2.5 cm long, separated from the 1–3 perigynia by a short internode.

lowest bracts with more or less inflated sheaths (5)10+ mm long;

lateral spikes crowded around the terminal one or separated; erect and nearly sessile or the lower ones drooping on long; slender peduncles; female or androgynous, 1.2–3.2 cm long; terminal spike male, 1.1–6.6 cm long.

Perigynia

obovate, rounded at the top, 5–7(8.5) × 1.8–2.8 mm, green; whitish, or brown;

beak small;

stigmas 3.

(3)3.5–5.5 × 0.9–1.6(1.8) mm; either mostly purple, or green with reddish or purple spots, usually glabrous, sometimes with sparse, spreading to appressed, usually long; soft; thin hairs, with several inconspicuous veins;

beak with distance from achene top to beak tip less than 2.5 mm;

stigmas 3.

Achenes

trigonous.

Female scales

the lower longer than the perigynia; the upper reduced; more or less brown with paler midrib and margins, pointed to awned.

shorter than the perigynia; reddish brown to dark purplish with a light mid-stripe;

margins sometimes white, glabrous.

Carex geyeri

Carex luzulina

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Well-drained soils in dry, open, conifer forests, aspen stands, and openings, rarely in sagebrush, on both serpentine and nonserpentine substrates. 100–2500 m. BR, BW, Col, ECas, Lava, Owy, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to southeastern British Columbia, east to CO, PA. Native.

Carex geyeri is a common ground cover in open forest, especially in northeastern Oregon, recognized by its tough, flat, evergreen leaves from dark, scaly rhizomes. Similar pinegrass, Calamagrostis rubescens, usually has hairy internodes and when in flower it is easily distinguished. Carex geyeri is important food for wildlife and livestock, especially in winter. In southwestern Oregon, C. geyeri can be confused with C. multicaulis, which is densely cespitose and has proportionately shorter, usually involute leaves, and longer, green, leaf-like, lower female scales.

Bogs and wet meadows. 600–3000 m. BR, BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to British Columbia, east to WY. Native.

The broad, yellow-green leaves clustered at the base of the culm, together with the inflorescence bracts with more or less inflated sheaths, the pointy perigynia, and the reddish to purplish female scales, make C. luzulina unlike any other sedge in Oregon bogs. However, it is hard to point at any one consistent feature as identifying this species. Two varieties (sometimes treated as species) have been recognized in C. luzulina, but the traits supposedly distinguishing them vary independently. Variable C. luzulina is confused with Californian C. luzulifolia and C. fissuricola, which usually have perigynia with flat margins more than half as wide as the achene. In C. fissuricola, the perigynium faces, at least near the beak, have sparse, spreading-ascending, short, stiff bristles, and the pistillate scales have hairs on the distal margins.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 202
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 213
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Sibling taxa