Carex marina subsp. marina Dewey
Amer. J. Sci. 29: 247. 1836.
Nomenclatural section used by Flora of North America project subgenus Vignea, section Glareosae G. Don
Carex amblyorhyncha Krecz.
Plants caespitose, or not caespitose (but loosely clustered). Plants less than 15 cm high (usually), or more than 15 cm high (rarely); 10–15(–30) cm high. Roots pallid-brown. Ground level or underground stems horizontal, or not developed horizontally or vertically; compact. Scales present. Aerial stems erect; filiform (0.3–0.6 mm in diameter); triangular in cross section (with heavy sclerenchyma on the angles); glabrous (at 10X, scaberulous at apex seen at 40X). Leaves distributed along the stems (in the lower half); simple. Sheaths greyish brown, or brown. Ligules present; 0.1–0.2 mm long. Blades straight; linear; flat, or revolute (loosely); not septate nodulose; glabrous, or scabrous (scaberulous).
Flowering stems 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 (often inconspicuous); 0.4–1.3 cm long; with sheath shorter than the blade. Inflorescence spicate; linear, or oblong; 1–1.5 cm long; 3–8 mm wide; multispicate; 2–3 spikes; lateral spikes sessile (or almost so; all spikes staminate below and pistillate above). Individual spike(s) erect, or ascending. Terminal spike staminate at the base (oblong-clavate). Cladoprophyll absent. Staminate flowers inconspicuous. 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 (margins relatively wide); ovate; 2–3 mm long; 1.8–2.2 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth absent. Anthers 0.8–1 mm long. Styles slender, extending beyond the beak. Stigmas per style 2. Fruit surrounded by a perigynium. Perigynia with a slit running down the beak on the abaxial side through which the style protrudes; elliptic; 2.5–3 mm long; 1.1–1.3 mm wide; sessile; erect or ascending; straw-coloured (towards the base), or golden brown (towards the apex); surface dull; glabrous; papillose; faintly nerved; with 2 keels (slight); apices merely conical or rounded; apex oblique, becoming slightly bidentate. Achenes filling the perigynia.
Chromosome information. 2n = 58, 60, 62, and 64.
Distribution. Low arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago limited. Rare. Arctic Islands: Ellesmere (Alexandra Fiord, Lake Hazen, Borup Fiord, and Hot Weather Creek).
Ecology and habitat. Substrate wet meadows, marshes (in extensive stands of Carex aquatilis var. stans), lake shores (on the lower slopes or in mossy marshy areas); aquatic, or imperfectly drained; sand, moss; with high organic content.
Notes. Carex marina sensu Mackenzie is C. glareosa Wahlenb. Porsild (1957) treated this taxon as Carex amblyorhyncha Krecz. Halliday and Chater (1969c) documented that C. marina is the earlier name of this taxon.
Carex marina was described by Dewey (1836) from material collected in the Canadian Arctic by Richardson, probably on the second of Franklin’s expeditions. Fernald (1902), like Kükenthal (1909), considered Dewey’s plant to be C. heleonastes. Halliday and Chater (1969c) showed that C. marina is to be applied to the plant commonly known as C. amblyorhyncha.
Halliday and Chater (1969a) suggested that in the past the widespread C. marina hybridized with the more local C. glareosa until the latter no longer occurs in pure populations.
Illustrations. • 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).
