Carex gracilior

Mackenzie

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 43: 614. 1917.

IllustratedEndemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 23. Treatment on page 348. Mentioned on page 332, 345.

Plants densely cespitose. Culms 30–70 (–110) cm. Leaves: sheaths adaxially white-hyaline, often brownish tinged, summits U or V-shaped, prolonged to 0–0.5 (–1) mm beyond collar; distal ligules 1.5–3 mm; blades (2–) 3–4 per fertile culm, 11–40 (–50) cm × 1.4–3.5 (–4) mm. Inflorescences open or dense, brown or gold, 1.5–3 cm × 8–12 mm; proximal internode 2.5–7 mm; 2d internode 1.5–4.5 mm; proximal bracts bristlelike or leaflike. Spikes 4–8 (–9), distant to loosely aggregated, at least proximal 1–3 distinct, narrowly to broadly ovoid, (8–) 10–11 × 4–6.5 mm, base acute to attenuate, apex acute to truncate. Pistillate scales gold or red-gold to chestnut-brown, often with green, gold, or whitish midstripe, ovate to broadly ovate, 3.1–3.6 (–4.2) mm, less than or equal to perigynia length, width, margin white, 0–0.2 (–0.3) mm wide, apex obtuse to acuminate. Perigynia appressed-ascending to ascending, green or straw colored to light-brown, often green distally, conspicuously 5–9-veined abaxially, conspicuously 0 (–3) -veined adaxially, narrowly to sometimes broadly ovate, planoconvex or biconvex, 3.5–4.5 (–5.4) × 1.5–1.9 mm, 0.6–0.7 mm thick, ± leathery, margin flat, including wing 0.15–0.3 mm wide, ciliate-serrulate at least on distal body, sometimes filled with pithlike tissue towards perigynium base, often with metallic sheen; beak brown or gold at tip, cylindric, unwinged, abaxial suture usually inconspicuous, distance from beak tip to achene 1.5–2.2 (–2.8) mm, ± entire for 0.5–1 mm. Achenes elliptic to broadly ovate, (1.5–) 1.7–2.1 (–2.3) × 1.05–1.45 mm, 0.5–0.65 mm thick.


Phenology: Fruiting spring–early summer.
Habitat: Meadows, sloughs, moist to wet places, roadsides
Elevation: 0–600 m

Discussion

Carex gracilior is very similar to and perhaps conspecific with C. subbracteata (R. Whitkus 1988).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

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

... more about "Carex gracilior"
0.22 cm2.2 mm <br />0.0022 m <br /> (0.28 cm2.8 mm <br />0.0028 m <br />) +
elliptic;broadly ovate +
smaller +
0.5mm +  and 0.65mm +
bidentatate +
papillose +
obtuse;acuminate +
Joy Mastrogiuseppe +, Paul E. Rothrock +, A. C. Dibble +  and A. A. Reznicek +
Mackenzie +
persistent +
acute +  and attenuate +
not enlarged +
Gold (?) +  and Brown (?) +
cylindric +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br />) +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
11 cm110 mm <br />0.11 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
3 +  and 4 +
v--shaped +
0.14 cm1.4 mm <br />0.0014 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
glumaceous +  and foliaceous +
2-ranked +  and arranged +
ascending +  and appressed +
scale-like +  and leaflike +
parallel +  and divergent +
terete +, rolled +  and plicate +
round +  and trigonous +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (70 cm700 mm <br />0.7 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
0–600 m +
open +, pistillate +  and staminate +
hypogynous +  and subtending +
biconvex +  and trigonous +
Meadows, sloughs, moist to wet places, roadsides +
gold +  and brown +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
not prophyllate +, sessile +  and pistillate +
multi-ranked +, 2-ranked +, 3-ranked +  and alternate +
basal +  and cauline +
0.15mm +  and 0.3mm +
whitish +, gold +  and green +
with (1-)3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales +
0(-3)-veined +  and 5-9-veined +
green +, straw colored +  and light-brown +
appressed-ascending +  and ascending +
0.6mm +  and 0.7mm +
Fruiting spring–early summer. +
2-3(-4)-carpellate +
3 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
leaflike +  and bristlelike +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
adventitious +
0.36 cm3.6 mm <br />0.0036 m <br /> (0.42 cm4.2 mm <br />0.0042 m <br />) +
red-gold +  and chestnut-brown +
basal +  and proximal +
ovate;broadly ovate +
0.31 cm3.1 mm <br />0.0031 m <br /> (0.36 cm3.6 mm <br />0.0036 m <br />) +
herbaceous +  and membranous +
not differentiated +
cylindric +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
distant +  and loosely aggregated +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
distinct +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
septate +, hollow +  and solid +
compressed +, terete +  and trigonous +
papillate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-3(-4)-fid +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
prolonged +
v--shaped +  and u +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
Carex gracilior +
Carex sect. Ovales +
species +
plant +  and cespitose +