Carex capillaris L.
Sp. Pl. ed. 1: 977. 1753.
Nomenclatural section used by Flora of North America project subgenus Carex, sect. Hymenochlaenae Bailey
Carex capillaris subsp. chlorostachys (Stev.) A. & D. Löve & Raymond
Carex capillaris subsp. robustior (Drej. ex Lange) Böcher
Carex capillaris var. elongata Olney ex Fern.
Carex capillaris var. major Blytt
Carex capillaris f. minima (Beck) Kükenthal
Carex capillaris var. porsildiana Polunin
Carex capillaris subsp. chlorostachys (Stev.) A. & D. Löve
Carex capillaris subsp. robustior (Drej. ex Lange) Böcher
Carex capillaris var. elongata Olney ex Fern.
Carex capillaris var. major Blytt
Carex chlorostachys Stev.
Carex fuscidula Krecz.
Plants caespitose. Plants less than 15 cm high (usually); (2–)5–15(–20) cm high (in the Arctic Islands, to 50 cm high further south). Roots pallid-brown. Ground level or underground stems not developed horizontally or vertically. Scales absent. Aerial stems erect; filiform (0.3–0.5 mm in diameter); circular or oval in cross section; glabrous. Leaves mostly basal (yellow-green). Sheaths brown, or green (hyaline). Ligules present. Blades straight; linear; flat, or involute, or folded; glabrous (or minutely scaberulous). Blades adaxial surface glabrous.
Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence present; conspicuous and leaf-like; shorter than the apex of the inflorescence; (1–)1.5–4 cm long; with sheath shorter than the blade (usually enclosing the pedicels). Inflorescence spicate; 2–6(–7) cm long; 10–30 mm wide. Pedicels smooth. Inflorescence multispicate; 3–5 spikes; lateral spikes borne on pedicels (long and capillary). Individual spike(s) erect (initially and tending to remain so in depauperate plants), or pendent (the lowermost often remote and concealed among the leaves). Terminal spike staminate at the base, or wholly staminate. Cladoprophyll present at the base of the peduncle of lateral spikes. Staminate flowers inconspicuous (often absent on herbarium specimens). Floral scales shorter than the perigynium in fruit; orange brown; with margins, and sometimes mid-vein paler in colour than the adjacent area of the scale; obtuse; ovate; falling early; 1.5–2 mm long; 1–1.5 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth absent. Anthers 1–2 mm long. Styles slender, not extending beyond the beak. Stigmas per style 3. Fruit surrounded by a perigynium. Perigynia fused to the apex except for a small aperture through which the style protrudes; lanceolate, or elliptic; 1.8–2.3 mm long; 0.8–1.2 mm wide; contracted at the base into a stipe-like structure; erect or ascending, or spreading at maturity; golden brown; surface glossy; glabrous (scabrous near apex); faintly nerved; apices beaked with a long beak; apex oblique, becoming slightly bidentate. Achenes filling the perigynia; trigonous.
Chromosome information. 2n = 54.
Distribution. Circumpolar. Arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago wide-spread. Common. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Ellesmere, Victoria, Southampton, and Coats.
Ecology and habitat. Substrate around the margins of ponds, along streams, tundra, slopes; dry (more commonly), or imperfectly drained; calcareous; gravel, sand, silt, till; with low organic content, or with high organic content. Found in drier habitats typically with Dryas integrifolium, Epilobium latifolium, and Oxytropis maydelliana.
Notes. Polunin (1940) noted that most plants in the Eastern Arctic varied between 5–15 cm in height and recognized those that are much smaller, less than 3 cm in height as f. minima (Beck) Kükenthal. He found plants on Southampton Island with the branches of the inflorescence more lastingly erect than in the typical form, and the pistillate spikes bearing generally more numerous and more densely clustered flowers and he named these specimens var. porsildiana Polunin. Neither name has been widely taken up.
Polunin (1940) discusses why the names C. concor R. Br. and C. rigida Good cannot be used.
Porsild 1957 noted that this is a very variable species and distinguished between C. capillaris s.s. and var. major both in the Arctic Archipelago. He dismissed var. elongata as not in the area. Carex capillaris var. major is just a larger form from more sheltered locations and probably has no genetic basis (P. Ball, personal communication, (1998.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen. Delicate tufted plants less than 15 cm high. Spikes separated on "capillary" inflorescence branches. CAN 518518. • Plants in habitat. Plants with pale green foliage, growing on a well-drained slope. Spikes on long drooping pedicels. Nunavut, Baffin Island, July 23, 1982, J.M. Gillett 19008, CAN. • Close-up of plants. Tufted plant with late season inflorescences. Scale bar in cm. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. Susan Aiken 97–056, CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Staminate flowers at the base of the uppermost spike. Lateral spikes pistillate, perigynia with long beaks (Glued herbarium specimen). CAN 518518. • Arctic Island distribution.
Cite this publication as: Aiken, S.G., Boles, R.L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1999 onwards. ‘Cyperaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval.’ Version: 6th November 2000. http://http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
