Carex pellita Muhl. ex Willd.
woolly sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Mike Miller     (Photo ID #60660)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Carex pellita
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial, tufted herb from long, creeping rhizomes; stems 30-110 cm tall, arising singly or a few together, shorter than the leaves, dark red at the bases.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight, breaking into threads at the base; blades 2 to 5 per stem, flat, with margins flat or nearly so, borne on lower 1/2 of the stems, 2-5 mm wide, the lower ones reduced; ligules long, membranaceous.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 5, the terminal 2 (sometimes 1 or 3) linear, 1-2.5 cm long, long-stalked, with many male flowers, the lower spikes 2 to 3, cylindrical, with female flowers, unstalked to short-stalked, erect; bracts subtending the lowest spike leaflike, sheathless or short-sheathing, the lowest usually longer than the inflorescence.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, 3.3-5 mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, dull brownish-green, somewhat inflated, densely soft-hairy, the numerous ribs obscured, the bases round, unstalked, the beaks 0.8-1.5 mm long, deeply bidentate, the teeth 0.3-0.9

SourceThe 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 pellita

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)
954 25 1795
Slope Gradient (%)
0 0 15

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

114 99 345
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
6 5 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
79
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF

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

BG(12), BWBS(1), CWH(1), ESSF(7), ICH(1), IDF(25), MS(8), PP(8), SBPS(5), SBS(9)

Habitat and Range

Ditches, streambanks, swamps, marshes and wet meadows in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in S BC, absent on N Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands and adjacent mainland; E to NF and S to TN, TX, NM and CA.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex lanuginosa auct. non Michx.
Carex lasiocarpa var. latifolia (Boeckeler) Gilly