Flora of North America species comparison

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Carex echinata subsp. echinata

Carex echinata subsp. phyllomanica
Photo is of parent taxon

bristle fruit sedge, carex étoilé, star sedge
Photo is of parent taxon

coastal star sedge, coastal stellate sedge, star sedge
Culms

10–90(–135) cm.

20–80 cm.
Leaves

usually 0.7–2.7(–3.3) mm wide;

widest leaf 1–2.4(–2.7) mm wide.

1–3.3(–3.8) mm wide, widest leaf (1.7–)2.3–3.3(–3.8) mm wide.
Inflorescences

lax to dense, 2.5–8 cm;

distance between basal 2 spikes usually longer than the basal spike.

very dense, 1.2–2.5(–4) cm;

distance between basal 2 spikes usually less than length of basal spike.
Perigynia

veined or not adaxially over achene, (2.6–)2.9–3.6(–4) mm, margins often serrulate.

usually 2–12-veined adaxially over achene, (3.1–)3.5–4.75 mm, margins usually not serrulate.

Carex echinata subsp. echinata

Carex echinata subsp. phyllomanica
Phenology Fruiting late spring–early summer. Fruiting late spring–early summer.
Habitat Bogs, swamps, peaty or sandy shores of streams or lakes, wet meadows, usually in acidic soils Coastal bogs, swamps, stream and lakeshores
Elevation 0–3200 m (0–10500 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM; Eurasia
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Carex echinata subsp. echinata is a complex, variable entity; plants of relatively sterile habitats from Newfoundland to Minnesota and south locally to the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina have very narrow perigynia with the spikes either in congested heads or more laxly arranged and may be called C. echinata var. angustata (J. Carey) L. H. Bailey. Plants from the San Bernardino Mountains, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and some of the volcanic peaks in California, Oregon, and Washington tend to have very elongate inflorescences with widely spaced spikes and may be called C. echinata var. ormantha Fernald. In some areas these variants appear reasonably distinct, but over most of the species range intergrades between the extremes are frequent.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 23. FNA vol. 23, p. 331.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Carex > sect. Stellulatae > Carex echinata Cyperaceae > Carex > sect. Stellulatae > Carex echinata
Sibling taxa
C. echinata subsp. phyllomanica
C. echinata subsp. echinata
Synonyms C. phyllomanica
Name authority unknown (W. Boott) Reznicek: Contr. Univ. Mich. Herb. 14: 195. (1980)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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