Scheuchzer's cotton-grass (white cottongrass)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from creeping rhizomes, extensively colonial; stems mostly solitary, 10-50 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths brownish to reddish, cross-wrinkled, persistent, slightly expanded upwards, the uppermost dark-tipped and bladeless, basal leaves few; stem leaves 1 (2), borne below the middle of the stem; blades often much reduced, 0.5-1.3 mm wide, slender, folded or triangular in cross-section.
Flowers:
Spikes solitary, terminal, erect, nearly globe-shaped to egg-shaped or cylindrical, 0.8-2 cm long in flower, 1.8-4 cm long in fruit; anthers mostly 0.5-1 mm long; involucral bracts lacking.
Fruits:
Scales entirely blackish-green towards the top 1/2 or 2/3 or sometimes, very narrowly and inconspicuously pale-margined at the tips, narrowly egg-shaped, appressed to ascending, long-pointed, the midribs not reaching the tips, the sterile scales mostly less than 7; perianth bristles numerous, white or nearly white, many times longer than the achenes; achenes brown or blackish, 1.7-2.3 mm long, broadly egg-shaped with prominent stylar tips.
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
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) |
1160 | 550 | 1921 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 12 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
320 | 130 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 4 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
12 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BWBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BAFA(1), BWBS(3), ESSF(3), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Marshes, lakeshores and wet meadows in the montane to alpine zones; frequent in N BC, rare in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to WY and UT; Eurasia.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Eriophorum scheuchzeri subsp. arcticum Novoselova
Eriophorum scheuchzeri subsp. scheuchzeri
Eriophorum scheuchzeri var. tenuifolium Ohwi
Taxonomic Keys
Key to Eriophorum
1. Spikes 2 or more, subtended by one or more leaflike involucral bracts.
2. Leaves narrow, elongate, folded or triangular in cross-section; involucral bracts solitary, shorter than the inflorescence...........................................E. gracile
3. Spikes crowded, the scales with several conspicuous ribs; perianth bristles orange-brown or coppery...........................................E. virginicum
4. Midribs of scales extending to the tips, sheaths green...............E. viridcarinatum
5. Plants rhizomatous or stoloniferous, usually with solitary stems...............E. scheuchzeri
6. Scales with broad, pale margins, the basal ones reflexed................E. vaginatum
7. Perianth bristles pure white with silky sheen; plants 6-25 cm tall..............E. callitrix Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |