Carex parryana Dewey
Parry's sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Parry's sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, loosely tufted herb from short creeping rhizomes; stems 10-40 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths purplish-red towards the bases; blades flat, 2-6 mm wide, the lower ones not reduced.
Flowers:
Terminal spike with male flowers, often with female flowers at the tip or throughout, the lower spikes 2 to 5, with female flowers, short-stalked, 0.6-2 cm long, erect; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, bristlelike to scalelike, shorter than the inflorescence.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, greenish-yellow to brown, marginally 2-ribbed, otherwise nerveless, the beaks obscure, less than 0.3 mm long; female scales lanceolate to egg-shaped, nearly as long as and as wide as the perigynia, pointed at the tips, sometimes extended into short awns, reddish-black, with green midribs and light brown margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, 1.2-1.5 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 parryana
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) |
1429 | 822 | 2333 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
8 | 0 | 45 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
35 | 30 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
15 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BWBS(1), ESSF(5), ICH(1), IDF(4), SBS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist, often alkaline, meadows and lakeshores in the steppe and montane zones; frequent in SC and SE BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to ON and S to MN, ND, CO, UT and NV.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex parryana subsp. hallii (Olney) D.F. Murray
Carex parryana subsp. idahoa (L.H. Bailey) D.F. Murray
Carex parryana var. hallii (Olney) Kük.
Carex parryana var. unica L.H. Bailey