Carex atrosquama Mack.
black-scaled sedge (lesser blackscale sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
black-scaled sedge (lesser blackscale sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted herb from short rhizomes; stems 15-80 cm tall, much exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths reddish towards the bases; blades flat, 2-5 mm wide, the lower ones not much reduced.
Flowers:
Terminal spike with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips, the lateral spikes female, short-stalked and upright to spreading, 1-2.5 cm long; bracts subtending the spikes short- sheathing, leaflike, about equalling the spikes.
Fruits:
Perigynia elliptical, 2.7-3.5 mm long, 1.2-2 mm wide, straw-coloured often with greenish margins, nerveless and pimpled, the beaks short, less than 0.4 mm long; female scales broadly lanceolate, shorter than and about as wide as the perigynia, reddish-black, roughly pimpled, with short-pointed tips; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, egg-shaped, granular, 1.2-1.4 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 atrosquama
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) |
1799 | 1008 | 2410 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
24 | 0 | 68 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
229 | 24 | 306 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 2 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
16 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(2), BAFA(3), ESSF(5), ICH(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic slopes, meadows and thickets in the subalpine and alpine zones; common in BC in and east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, YT and NT, E to SW AB and S to CO, UT, ID and OR.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex apoda Clokey
Carex atrata subsp. atrosquama (Mack.) Hultén
Carex atrata var. atrosquama (Mack.) Cronquist