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spikenard sedge, spike sedge
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Chamisso sedge, thick-headed sedge
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| Plants densely cespitose, to 15 cm tall; plant bases yellow-brown. |
Plants cespitose, 15–120 cm tall. |
sheaths dense, persistent, yellow-brown; blades to 0.5 mm wide; very narrow and wiry. |
1.2–4.2(6.5) mm wide. |
spike solitary, androgynous; to about 1.5 cm long, with 5–15 perigynia, lacking inflorescence bracts. |
0.9–2.8 cm × 6.7–16.3 mm, usually dense and head-like but occasionally slightly elongate; rough in texture because of relatively few; thick, spreading perigynia; spikes gynaecandrous, occasionally female. |
elliptic or lanceolate to oblong-obovate, 3.5–4.5 × 1.2–2 mm, green or light brown at maturity, glabrous with serrulate distal margins; margins flattened distally; beak brown or hyaline, 0–0.8 mm long; stigmas 2 or 3. |
ovate to obovate; plano-convex, 2.8–4.7(5.1) × 1.1–2.3 mm; coppery green; golden brown; reddish brown, or dark brown (usually not contrasting with female scales) with a metallic sheen; dorsal veins 0–9(16); ventral veins 0–4(7), usually not reaching the top of the achene; margins flat or more or less swollen with pithy tissue; beak tip unwinged, brown; parallel-sided; and entire for the distal 0.4–0.7 mm, 1.5–2.2(2.8) mm from achene top to beak tip; stigmas 2. |
lenticular or trigonous. |
lenticular, 1.4–1.9 × 0.7–1.4 mm. |
about as wide as the perigynia; reddish brown to yellowish with broad brownish or white margins. |
shorter and narrower than the perigynia or about as long and wide; dark gold; reddish brown, or dark brown. |
=68, 70. |
=74, 76, 78, 80, 82. |
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Dry alpine ridges and slopes, abrasion plateaus, heaths and fellfields. 2300–3000 m. BW, Casc. ID, NV, WA; north to AK; Eurasia. Native. Carex filifolia, C. nardina, and Kobresia myosuroides are densely cespitose, fine-leaved “bunchgrass” sedges with yellow-brown, persistent leaf sheaths. The first two always grow in the alpine zone, and C. filifolia may join them there. Normal perigynia of C. filifolia are pubescent, at least in the upper part, and more 3-dimensional than those of C. nardina, but aborted C. filifolia perigynia can be confusing. |
Widespread in mesic transition zones between wet and drier habitats, in moist meadows, wet prairies, marsh edges, forest edges and roadsides. 0–2700 m. BW, Casc, Col, CR, ECas, Est, Lava, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to AK, northeast to Saskatchewan, east to CO; Siberia. Native. Carex pachystachya is a common sedge of the transition zones at the edges of wetlands. It has short, dense heads usually with much green color. The spikes often have a star-burst look because the perigynia are thick and spreading. Compare to C. harfordii, C. microptera, C. preslii, and C. subbracteata. |
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 215
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting |
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 218
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting |
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. 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. 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 |
| Carex hepburnii, Carex nardina var. hepburnii |
Carex macloviana |
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BC, 
OR, 
WA
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
CA, 
