Carex subspathacea Wormsk. ex Hornem.
Fl. Dan. 26: 6. 1816.
Nomenclatural section used by Flora of North America project subgenus Carex, sect. Phacocystis Dumortier
Carex salina Wahlenb. var. subspathacea (Wormsk. ex Hornen.) Tuckerman.
×subviridula Fern. (flava × viridula).
×sullivanti Boott (gracillima × hirifolia).
xsupergoodenoughii Kükenthal (nigra × rectra)
Plants not caespitose. Plants turf forming; less than 15 cm high; 2–15 cm high. Roots pallid-brown. Ground level or underground stems horizontal; rhizomatous; elongate, or compact. Scales present. Aerial stems erect; triangular in cross section; glabrous. Leaves mostly basal. Sheaths greyish brown. Ligules present. Blades straight; linear; flat, or involute; glabrous. Blades adaxial surface glabrous.
Flowering stems shorter than the leaves, or about as high as the leaves. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence present, or absent; conspicuous and leaf-like; exceeding the inflorescence; 1–3.5 cm long; sheathless (he base of the blade may enclose the stem at the node but there is no sheath covering any part of the internode). Inflorescence spicate; 2–4 cm long; 5–12 mm wide. Pedicels smooth. Inflorescence multispicate; 2–3 spikes (often hidden among the leaves); lateral spikes borne on pedicels (that are sometimes very short). Individual spike(s) erect, or ascending. Terminal spike wholly staminate (the pistillate spikes few flowered and somewhat remote). Cladoprophyll present at the base of the peduncle of lateral spikes. Staminate flowers conspicuous. Floral scales as long as the perigynium in fruit; brown, or black; with margins the same colour as the body of the scale (midvein pale); ovate (sometimes extended into a point, mucronate); 2.8–3.2 mm long; 1.6–2 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth absent. Anthers 1.2–1.5 mm long. Styles slender, not extending beyond the beak, or slender, extending beyond the beak. Stigmas per style 2. Fruit surrounded by a perigynium. Perigynia fused to the apex except for a small aperture through which the style protrudes; broadly ovate; 2.5–3 mm long; 1.2–1.5 mm wide; sessile; erect or ascending; straw-coloured, or green; surface dull; glabrous; appearing nerveless; apices beaked with a short beak. Achenes not filling the upper part of the perigynia; lenticular.
Chromosome information. 2n = 78 and 80.
Distribution. Circumpolar. High arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago wide-spread. Common. Arctic Islands: Baffin and Devon (literature record), Banks, Victoria, Somerset, King William, and Coats (and Prince Charles).
Ecology and habitat. Substrate wet meadows, around the margins of ponds (on mud flats), marshes (brackish), river terraces (near coast), sea shore (in coastal lagoons, on beach ridges, and strand flats); imperfectly drained; halophytic; gravel (occasionally), sand, silt (often salt encrusted); with high organic content, or peat. Along the sea shore, this species is typically found just above the high tide line with Puccinellia phryganodes turf. In river terraces, common associates are Carex maritima, C. ursina, and Dupontia fisheri. It is never seen away from the influence of salt water.
Notes. Polunin (1940) reported that this species is often extremely dwarfed near the sea and plants become larger as one moves inland.
Carex subspathacea is a preferred forage species for lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens) along with Puccinellia phryganodes. Gadallah and Jefferies (1995) analysed the nutrient content of these two species at La Perouse Bay, Manitoba, and found it to be higher than those of other salt marsh graminoids.
Illustrations. • Plants in habitat. Dominant green plants in saline meadow. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. Susan Aiken 97–036, CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Multispicate inflorescence subtended by a long leaf. Terminal spike staminate, lateral spikes pistillate. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit. Susan Aiken 97–036, CAN. • Close-up of inflorescence. Multispicate inflorescence subtended by a long leaf. Terminal spike staminate, lateral spikes pistillate. Drawing by Mrs S. Bergh and Mrs L. Barstad based on Svalvard: Oscar II Land: Kapp Bohenam, ytse neset på strandi, J. Lid, 30 Aug., 1920. O. With permission of the Botanical Museum Univeristy of Oslo, Norway. • 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).
