Carex livida (Wahlenb.) Willd.
pale sedge (livid sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
pale sedge (livid sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from slender, creeping rhizomes; stems 5-60 cm tall, arising singly or a few together, shorter or longer than the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth, thin, some lower ones persisting; blades 6 to 12 per stem, bluish-green, channeled, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, 0.5-3.5 mm wide.
Flowers:
Spikes 2 to 4, the terminal one linear, 1-2.5 cm long, with male flowers, the lower spikes 1 to 3, cylindrical, with female flowers, the lower more or less remote and long-stalked, the upper unstalked or short-stalked, erect; bracts subtending the lowest female spikes sheathing, leaflike, sometimes exceeding the inflorescence, the upper bracts awnlike.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 3.5-4.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, light green or whitish, densely pimpled, with 2 marginal nerves, numerous, crowded, spreading, short-stalked, tapering to the tips, beakless; female scales egg-shaped, equalling or slightly shorter than the perigynia, purplish-brown, the centres pale green, the margins wide, translucent, the tips round; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 2-2.5 mm long.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Carex livida
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) |
378 | 5 | 1670 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
4 | 0 | 45 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
324 | 2 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 2 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
A | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
133 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(6), CDF(1), CWH(96), ESSF(3), ICH(7), MH(5), MS(2), SBS(13) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, fens, swamps and moist to wet open forests in the lowland and montane zones; common along the coast, less frequent in E BC (Rocky Mountains); disjunct circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to MA, NY, MI, WI, MN, CO, ID and OR; Iceland, N Europe and E Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex livida var. grayana (Dewey) Fernald
Carex livdia var. radicaulis (Wahlenb.) Willd.