Carex siccata Dewey
hay sedge (dryspike sedge; silvertop sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
hay sedge (dryspike sedge; silvertop sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, rhizomatous herb from long, slender rhizomes; stems 20-90 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight, green; blades flat, 1.5-3 mm wide, the lower ones reduced to scales.
Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 12, unstalked, 0.6-1 cm long, clustered into a 1.5- to 3.5-cm long cylindrical head, the upper spikes with both male and female flowers, the male flowers usually towards the tips, the lower spikes slightly remote; bracts subtending the spikes strongly reduced, only the lowermost sometimes bristlelike.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped, 3-6 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, yellowish- to reddish-brown, plano-convex, the margins winged and fringed with teeth above the middle, 8- to 14-nerved on the backs, nerveless or nerved at the bases, the beaks bidentate, about as long as the perigynia bodies; female scales egg-shaped, nearly or as long and wide as the perigynia, pointed at the tips, reddish- or yellowish-brown, the centres 3-nerved with narrow, green margins; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.5-2 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 siccata
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) |
1207 | 645 | 2103 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
14 | 0 | 75 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
196 | 90 | 312 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
16 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(1), BWBS(2), ESSF(5), IDF(2), MS(1), PP(3), SBS(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry, often sandy sites in the steppe and montane zones; frequent in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains except rare in NW BC; N to S YT and NT, E to S PQ and S to MA, NC, TN, IA, SD, NM and AZ.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex foenea var. enervis Evans & Mohlenbr.
Carex foenea var. foenea
Carex foenea var. tuberculata F.J. Herm.