Carex laeviculmis Meinsh.
smooth-stemmed sedge (smoothstem sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
smooth-stemmed sedge (smoothstem sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, densely tufted herb from slender rhizomes; stems 30-70 cm tall, longer than the leaves, roughened above.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades about 3 to 5 per stem, flat, borne on the lower 1/2 of the stem, 1-2 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 8, the terminal one unstalked, 4-7 mm long, with both male and female flowers, the female flowers towards the tips, the lower spikes 2 to 7, ascending to widely spreading, remote to crowded, 3- to 10-flowered, with female flowers only, unstalked; bracts of the lowest spike hairlike, up to 5 cm long, the upper ones reduced.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 2.5-4 mm long, 1.5-1.7 mm wide, plano-convex, spreading or ascending, greenish-brown to light green, few-nerved, spongy below, the beaks 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the bodies, inconspicuously bidentate; female scales egg-shaped, rounded at the tips, sharply keeled, shorter than the perigynia, yellowish-brown, with greenish midribs; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.8 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Carex laeviculmis
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
547 | 3 | 1990 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
12 | 0 | 84 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
254 | 1 | 354 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 2 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
162 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(1), BWBS(2), CWH(98), ESSF(14), ICH(13), MH(19), MS(1), SBPS(3), SBS(4), SWB(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, shorelines, streambanks, wet meadows and moist forests in the lowland and montane zones; common in SW and SE BC south of 55degreeN, infrequent in SC BC, rare in N BC; amphiberingian, N to AK and S to CO, ID and CA; E Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex deweyana var. sparsiflora L.H. Bailey