Carex tenuiflora Wahlenb.
sparse-flowered sedge (sparseflower sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Ryan Batten     (Photo ID #53151)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Carex tenuiflora
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Species Information

General:
Perennial, loosely tufted herb from long rhizomes; stems 15-60 cm tall, longer than the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades 3 to 7, borne on the lower part of the stem, 0.5-2 mm wide, flat or channeled.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 5 in a terminal head, egg-shaped, many-flowered, 5-10 mm long, ascending, with both female and male flowers, the female flowers towards the tips, the male flowers inconspicuous; all bracts strongly reduced.
Fruits:
Perigynia elliptical, elongated, 3-3.5 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, greenish-white, minutely whitish-dotted, plano-convex, smooth, faintly nerved, unstalked; female scales egg-shaped, covering the perigynia, blunt, light green, with green midribs; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.7-2 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Carex tenuiflora

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)
 989 326 1650
Slope Gradient (%)
 0 0 5

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 282 90 350
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		6 3 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 133
Modal BEC Zone Class
 SBS

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 BWBS(13), ESSF(9), ICH(14), IDF(4), MS(17), SBPS(11), SBS(63)

Habitat and Range

Fens, bogs and moist forests in the montane zone; infrequent in BC east of the Coast Mountains and N of 52degreeN; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, MA, NY, MI, MN, NM and WA; Eurasia.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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