Flora of North America species comparison

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Carex laxiculmis var. laxiculmis

Carex sect. Careyanae
Photo is of parent taxon

carex à tiges faibles, spreading sedge
Habit Plants densely or loosely cespitose, short-rhizomatous.
Culms

brown or purple at base.
Leaves

usually glaucous;

widest blade 6.4–11.8 mm wide.

basal sheaths not fibrous;

sheath fronts membranous;

blades M-shaped in cross section when young, adaxial side of blades with 2 lateral veins more prominent than midvein, leaves often over 10 mm wide, cauline leaves sometimes bladeless, glabrous.
Inflorescences

racemose, with 3–5(–6) spikes;

proximal nonbasal bracts leaflike or bladeless, long-sheathing;

lateral spikes pistillate, frequently basal, sometimes with 1–2 staminate flowers proximally, pedunculate, prophyllate;

terminal spike staminate.
Perigynia

ascending, distinctly 8-veined or more, sessile, broadly to narrowly ovate, acutely trigonous in cross section, base tapering, truncate, apex tapering to beak, glabrous;

beak less than or more than 5 mm, orifice entire.
Achenes

trigonous, smaller than bodies of perigynia;

style deciduous.
Longest

staminate spike (10–)12–25 mm.

Proximal

pistillate scales with apex obtuse to awned.
Stigmas

3.
2n

= 44, 46.

Carex laxiculmis var. laxiculmis

Carex sect. Careyanae
Phenology Fruiting spring–early summer.
Habitat Low, wet, deciduous or mixed deciduous-evergreen forests, along edges of springs, seeps, and streams, usually clay soils
Elevation 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
Temperate e North America
Discussion

Species 8 (8 in the flora).

Eight species formerly included in sect. Laxiflorae in recent floras have been segregated into sect. Careyanae. See R. F. C. Naczi et al. (2001) for distinguishing these sections and also discussion under sect. Laxiflorae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Basal sheaths purple or reddish purple.
→ 2
1. Basal sheaths white to tan or brown.
→ 4
2. Widest leaf blades (2–)3–6(–7) mm wide; peduncles of lateral pistillate spikes usually drooping.
C. austrocaroliniana
2. Widest leaf blades 10–25(–32) mm wide; peduncles of lateral pistillate spikes usually erect or spreading, rarely drooping.
→ 3
3. Bracts from middle and proximal portions of culms bladeless or with blades 0.8–2 cm; perigynia 3.7–4.9 mm; longest lateral spike with 9–13 peryginia.
C. plantaginea
3. Bracts from middle and proximal portions of culms with blades 2.1–9.2 cm; perigynia 5–6.6 mm; longest lateral spike with 4–9 perigynia.
C. careyana
4. Leaf blades of vegetative shoots 3.8–9 times wider than bract blades; widest leaves (7–)11–28 mm wide; bract blades from middle and proximal portions of culms 2–6.2 cm; leaves glaucous.
C. platyphylla
4. Leaf blades of vegetative shoots 1–3.5 times wider than bract blades; widest leaves 0.8–14 mm wide; bract blades from middle and proximal portions of culms (1–)4.5–28 cm; leaves green or glaucous.
→ 5
5. Proximal scales of lateral spikes sterile or subtending a staminate flower; pistillate scales 2.5–3.2 mm.
C. laxiculmis
5. Proximal scales of lateral spikes subtending perigynia; pistillate scales 1.3–2.2 mm.
→ 6
6. Staminate spikes (1–)1.2–2.7 mm wide; staminate scales acute, those from center of spike 3.6–5.5 mm; vegetative shoots shorter than or slightly taller than culms, tallest vegetative shoot 0.5–1.3(–1.8) times as tall as tallest flowering culm.
C. digitalis
6. Staminate spikes 0.6–1.4(–1.6) mm wide; staminate scales obtuse, those from center of spike 2.6–3.6(–3.8) mm; vegetative shoots taller than culms, tallest vegetative shoot (1.4–)1.7–3.7(–4.9) times as tall as tallest flowering culm.
→ 7
7. Plants densely cespitose; perigynia 4–8(–9), distichously overlapping; peduncles of proximal spikes usually drooping; blade of bract of distal lateral spike (12–)17–51 times as long as wide; longest staminate spike (8.3–)9.6– 16(–21.1) mm.
C. cumberlandensis
7. Plants loosely or densely cespitose; perigynia (6–)8–13, spirally overlapping; peduncles of proximal spikes usually erect; blade of bract of distal lateral spike 5.6–17(–26) times as long as wide; longest staminate spike (3.5–)4.5–10.2(–11.5) mm.
C. abscondita
Source FNA vol. 23. FNA vol. 23. Authors: Charles T. Bryson, Robert F. C. Naczi.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Carex > sect. Careyanae > Carex laxiculmis Cyperaceae > Carex
Sibling taxa
C. laxiculmis var. copulata
Subordinate taxa
C. abscondita, C. austrocaroliniana, C. careyana, C. cumberlandensis, C. digitalis, C. laxiculmis, C. plantaginea, C. platyphylla
Name authority unknown Tuckerman ex Kükenthal: in H. G. A. Engler, Pflanzenr. 20[IV,38]: 522. (1909)
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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