Carex microptera Mack.
small-winged sedge (smallwing sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
small-winged sedge (smallwing sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots, stems triangular, 30-90 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 2-4 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem, the lowermost leaves reduced to scales.
Flowers:
Spikes 5 to 10 aggregated into a dense head 1-2.5 cm in diameter, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, awned.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 3-4.5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, light green, straw-coloured, or light brown, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, lightly several-nerved on the backs, with faint nerves or nerveless below, the beaks obscurely bidentate, up to 1.5 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales elliptical, light brown, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 0.8-1.3 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
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Carex microptera
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) |
1651 | 565 | 2410 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
19 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
143 | 18 | 335 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
20 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(5), ESSF(10), ICH(3), SBPS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, swamps, lakeshores, ditches, wet meadows and moist forests in the montane to alpine zones; frequent throughout BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to S YT and NT, E to SK and S to SD, NM, AZ and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex festivella Mack.
Carex limnophila F.J. Herm.
Carex macloviana subsp. festivella (Mack.) A. Löve & D. Löve
Carex macloviana var. microptera (Mack.) B. Boivin
Carex microptera var. crassinervia F.J. Herm.
Carex microptera var. limnophila (F.J. Herm.) Dorn