Carex foenea

Willdenow

Enum. Pl. 2: 957. 1809.

Common names: Carex fourrager
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Carex aenea Fernald
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 357. Mentioned on page 307, 334, 345.

Plants densely cespitose. Culms 20–120 cm. Leaves: sheaths adaxially white-hyaline or green-and-white-mottled, papillose, summits U-shaped, shortly prolonged beyond collar; distal ligules 2–3 mm; blades 3–6 per fertile culm, green, without auricles, 8–30 cm × 2–4 mm, pliable. Inflorescences open, usually with widely spaced spikes, flexible, brown or greenish brown, 1.5–8 cm × 7–15 mm; proximal internode 5–25 mm; 2d internode 4–12 mm; proximal bracts scalelike, sometimes bristlelike to 1 cm. Spikes 3–7 (–11), usually distant, oblong to ellipsoid, 7–25 × 5–7 mm, base clavate to attenuate, apex usually rounded. Pistillate scales usually reddish-brown, or green or gold in shade-forms, with 3-veined green or brown midstripe, ovate, 4–5 mm, equaling, ± covering perigynia, apex acute to acuminate. Perigynia erect-ascending, green or brown, conspicuously 4–9-veined abaxially, veinless or conspicuously unequally 4–8-veined adaxially, ovate, planoconvex or concavo-convex, 3.3–5 × (1.5–) 1.7–2.5 mm, 0.6–0.8 mm thick, margin flat, including wing 0.2–0.4 mm wide, smooth or ciliate-serrulate at least on distal body; beak white or brown, white margin at tip, flat, ± ciliate-serrulate, abaxial suture inconspicuous or with white margin, distance from beak tip to achene (1.4–) 1.7–2.5 mm. Achenes dark-brown at maturity, ovoid-orbicular, 1.3–2.1 × 1.2–1.7 mm, 0.5–0.6 mm thick, 1–1.4 (–1.5) times as long as wide. 2n = 82, 84.


Phenology: Fruiting late spring–early summer.
Habitat: Dry to moist, acidic sands, gravels, open disturbed places, grasslands, open woods
Elevation: 10–1000 m

Distribution

V23 621-distribution-map.jpg

Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon, Alaska, Conn., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., Mont., N.H., N.Y., N.Dak., Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Vt., Wis.

Discussion

The distinction between Carex foenea and C. argyrantha has been obscured by emphasis on the presence or absence of veination on the adaxial face of the perigynium. In C. foenea, the adaxial face is typically veinless or has a few veins not reaching the middle of the body, though at times the adaxial veins are about as strong as those of C. argyrantha. However, the veins of C. argyrantha appear ± straight and parallel to each other compared to the curving veins of C. foenea. In addition to characters cited in the key, C. foenea has more spreading perigynia and, at maturity, strongly brown-colored pistillate scales and perigynia. The name C. foenea has been applied often in recent literature to C. siccata, a very different species with long-creeping rhizomes.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"shortened" is not a number."+timesaslongasinflorescences" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Carex foenea"
with white margin +  and inconspicuous +
0.14 cm1.4 mm <br />0.0014 m <br /> (0.17 cm1.7 mm <br />0.0017 m <br />) +
1-1.4(-1.5) +
ovoid-orbicular +
smaller +
0.5mm +  and 0.6mm +
bidentatate +
papillose +
acute;acuminate +
Joy Mastrogiuseppe +, Paul E. Rothrock +, A. C. Dibble +  and A. A. Reznicek +
Willdenow +
persistent +
clavate +  and attenuate +
not enlarged +
Brown (?) +  and White (?) +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
3 +  and 6 +
v--shaped +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
Carex fourrager +
round +  and trigonous +
20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (120 cm1,200 mm <br />1.2 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
Alta. +, B.C. +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.W.T. +, N.S. +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Alaska +, Conn. +, Maine +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mont. +, N.H. +, N.Y. +, N.Dak. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.Dak. +, Vt. +  and Wis. +
10–1000 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Dry to moist, acidic sands, gravels, open disturbed places, grasslands, open woods +
greenish brown +  and brown +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
not prophyllate +, sessile +  and pistillate +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
0.2mm +  and 0.4mm +
brown +, green +  and 3-veined +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
4-8-veined +, veinless +  and 4-9-veined +
brown +  and green +
erect-ascending +
0.6mm +  and 0.8mm +
Fruiting late spring–early summer. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
adventitious +
gold +, green +  and reddish-brown +
basal +  and proximal +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
herbaceous +  and membranous +
not differentiated +
papillose +
cylindric +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
distant +  and spaced +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
oblong;ellipsoid +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-3(-4)-fid +
prolonged +
u--shaped +
Carex aenea +
Carex foenea +
Carex sect. Ovales +
species +
plant +  and cespitose +