green-keeled cotton-grass (thinleaf cottonsedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Map
Distribution of Eriophorum viridicarinatum
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from thin rhizomes; stems 30-100 cm tall.
Leaves:
Mainly basal, flat except at the tips, stem leaves 2 or more; sheaths green, the basal, persistent ones brownish, cross-wrinkled; blades 2-6 mm wide, flat, except at the tips, the uppermost equalling or surpassing the sheaths.
Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 10, terminal, loosely aggregated, usually stalked, the stalks pendulous, to 5 cm long, slender, rough, short-hairy, or rarely all unstalked, egg-shaped, 0.6-1 cm long in flower, 1.5-3 cm long in fruit; anthers 1-1.3 mm long; involucral bracts 2 to 3, green with light brown bases, usually the longest ones surpassing the inflorescence.
Fruits:
Scales blackish-green, narrowly egg-shaped, appressed to ascending, 1-ribbed, blunt, the conspicuous, paler midribs expanded at, and extending to the tips; perianth bristles numerous, creamy-white to tawny, many times longer than the achenes; achenes narrowly egg-shaped, 3-4 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
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) |
791 | 380 | 1440 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 55 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
85 | 60 | 338 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 3 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
47 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(8), CWH(1), ESSF(1), ICH(8), IDF(1), MH(1), MS(3), SBPS(1), SBS(19) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, marshes and wet meadows in the montane to alpine zones; frequent in NW and E BC, infrequent in SC BC; N to AK and YT, E to NF and S to NY, IA, OH, MI, CO and ID.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Eriophorum polystachion var. viridicarinatum
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 |