Carex vaginata Tausch
sheathed sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
sheathed sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from slender, creeping rhizomes; stems 10-60 cm tall, arising singly or a few together, longer than the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight, tubular; blades 4 to 8 per stem, flat or channeled towards the bases, borne on the lower 1/4 of the stem, 1-5 mm wide.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 5, more or less remote, long-stalked, erect to spreading, the terminal one linear, 1-2 cm long, with male flowers, the lower 2 to 4 spikes cylindrical, with female flowers; bracts subtending the female spikes sheathing, leaflike, 1-3 cm long, shorter than the spikes.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped to elliptical, 3.5-5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, yellowish-green or brownish, slightly inflated, smooth, shiny, strongly 2-nerved marginally, spreading or ascending, short-stalked, the beaks bidentate, often dark-tipped, 0.6-1.2 mm long; female scales egg-shaped, shorter than the perigynia, brown, the centres pale green, the margins translucent, the tips round to short-awned; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.6-2.2 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 vaginata
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) |
960 | 410 | 1799 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
4 | 0 | 57 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
342 | 15 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 3 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
67 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BWBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(2), BWBS(31), CWH(2), ESSF(4), IDF(5), MS(1), SBS(6), SWB(8) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Swamps, bogs, seepage areas and wet meadows in the montane zone; frequent in N and E BC, rare in SC BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, VT, MI, WI, MN and MT; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex saltuensis L.H. Bailey