Carex glacialis Mackenzie
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 37: 244. 1910.
Nomenclatural section used by Flora of North America project subgenus Carex, sect. Petreae (O.F. Lang) Kükenthal
Carex pedata Wahlenb. not L.
Plants caespitose (densely). Plants less than 15 cm high (usually), or more than 15 cm high (continental North America); (3.5–)5–15(–30) cm high. Roots pallid-brown. Ground level or underground stems horizontal, or not developed horizontally or vertically; compact. Scales present. Aerial stems erect (sub-erect); circular or oval in cross section; glabrous. Leaves mostly basal. Sheaths brown, or reddish. Ligules present. Blades straight (when fresh), or somewhat curled (older leaves); linear; flat, or folded, or caniculate (strongly keeled); glabrous, or scabrous (towards the tip).
Flowering stems about as high as the leaves, or conspicuously taller than the leaves. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence present; reduced, or scale-like; shorter than the apex of the inflorescence; 0.1–1 cm long; with sheath shorter than the blade, or sheathless. Inflorescence spicate; oblong, or lanceolate; 0.6–1.5 cm long; 1.5–4 mm wide; multispicate; 3–4 spikes; lateral spikes sessile (or almost so). Individual spike(s) erect (with few flowers; all spikes unisexual). Terminal spike wholly staminate. Cladoprophyll present at the base of the peduncle of lateral spikes. Staminate flowers conspicuous. Floral scales shorter than the perigynium in fruit; brown; with margins, and sometimes mid-vein paler in colour than the adjacent area of the scale; obtuse (broadly ovate); 1.5–2 mm long; 2–2.4 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth absent. Anthers 1.3–1.5 mm long. Styles slender, 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; broadly ovate; 1.5–2.5 mm long; 0.9–1.2 mm wide; sessile; erect or ascending; brown (in bands), or green; surface dull; glabrous (scabrous toward the apex); appearing nerveless; with 2 keels (that are not prominent); apices beaked with a short beak. Achenes filling the perigynia; lenticular.
Chromosome information. 2n = 34.
Distribution. Circumpolar. Arctic, or alpine. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago wide-spread. Uncommon. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg, Victoria, and Southampton.
Ecology and habitat. Substrate slopes, ridges, cliffs (on ledges); dry (rarely in wet places); calcareous; rock, gravel, sand; with low organic content. Can be the dominant species on dry gravel ridges. Typically found in cliff pockets with Carex nardina, or in sandy cracks in bedrock.
Notes. Polunin (1940) noted that this is "yet another little sedge that has been in the past, and probably is to this day, repeatedly missed".
Illustrations. • Close-up of inflorescence. Terminal spike staminate with anther filaments present. Lateral spikes pistillate; the perigynia have been shed leaving the subtending scales and showing the zig-zag rachis. CAN 21550. • 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).
