Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Carex scopulorum var. prionophylla

Carex scopulorum var. scopulorum
Photo is of parent taxon

firethread sedge, saw-leaf Rocky Mountain sedge, saw-leaf sedge
Photo is of parent taxon

mountain sedge
Culms

35–90 cm, scabrous on angles.

11–40 cm, glabrous on angles.
Leaves

proximal sheaths red-brown, fronts with (red) pale brown spots, prominently ladder-fibrillose, bladeless, glabrous, backs scabrous;

leaf blades 3–6 mm wide.

proximal sheaths brown, fronts with pale brown spots, veinless, with blades, glabrous;

leaf blades 3–6 mm wide.
Perigynia

ellipsoid to obovoid, apex acute.

obovoid.
2n

= 74.

Carex scopulorum var. prionophylla

Carex scopulorum var. scopulorum
Phenology Fruiting Jul–Aug. Fruiting Aug–Sep.
Habitat Wet subalpine meadows Wet subalpine and alpine meadows
Elevation 1000–1400 m (3300–4600 ft) 3000–4500 m (9800–14800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Carex scopulorum var. prionophylla usually occurs at somewhat lower elevations than var. bracteosa. Where the two are sympatric, they can be distinguished by the bladeless, ladder-fibrillose basal sheaths and the narrower ellipsoid perigynia of var. prionophylla.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

A common sedge of the southern Rocky Mountains, Carex scopulorum var. scopulorum is distinguished from var. bracteosa by the glabrous stems and sheaths, and by the broader more obovoid perigynia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 23, p. 400. FNA vol. 23, p. 399.
Parent taxa Cyperaceae > Carex > sect. Phacocystis > Carex scopulorum Cyperaceae > Carex > sect. Phacocystis > Carex scopulorum
Sibling taxa
C. scopulorum var. bracteosa, C. scopulorum var. scopulorum
C. scopulorum var. bracteosa, C. scopulorum var. prionophylla
Synonyms C. prionophylla, C. miserabilis C. chimaphila, C. scopulorum var. subconcoloroides, C. tolmiei var. subsessilis
Name authority (Holm) L. A. Standley: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 7: 86. (1985) unknown
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers