Carex vaginata Tausch
In Flora 4: 557. 1821.
Nomenclatural section used by Flora of North America project subgenus Carex, sect. Paniceae G. Don
Carex saltensis Bailey
Carex sparsiflora (Wahlenb.) Steud.
Carex altocaukis (Dew.) Britt.
Carex vaginata var. altocaulis Dew.
Plants not caespitose (forming loose clusters). Plants less than 15 cm high, or more than 15 cm high (usually); (7–)10–20(–40) cm high. Ground level or underground stems horizontal; rhizomatous, or stoloniferous; elongate, or compact. Scales present. Aerial stems erect; not filiform (0.6–1.3 mm in diameter); circular or oval in cross section; glabrous. Leaves distributed along the stems; simple. Sheaths greyish brown (pallid). Ligules present. Blades straight; linear; flat; glabrous, or scabrous (minutely scaberulous on leaf margins).
Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence present; conspicuous and leaf-like, or reduced, or scale-like; shorter than the apex of the inflorescence (usually); 0.4–1(–3) cm long; with sheath longer than the blade (usually). Inflorescence spicate; (3–)5–10(–20) cm long; 2–7(–15) mm wide; multispicate; 2–3(–4) spikes; lateral spikes borne on pedicels (somewhat distant). Individual spike(s) ascending (lax, the staminate one on a somewhat stout divergent pedicel). 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; orange brown; with margins, and sometimes mid-vein paler in colour than the adjacent area of the scale (midvein broad and green); ovate, or lanceolate; 1.8–2.8 mm long; 1.4–1.8 mm wide; glabrous. Perianth absent. Anthers 3–3.5 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 broadly ovate; 2.2–3(–5) mm long; 1.2–1.5 mm wide; sessile; erect or ascending; straw-coloured, or green; surface dull; glabrous; faintly nerved; apices beaked with a long beak; apex oblique, becoming slightly bidentate. Achenes not filling the upper part of the perigynia; trigonous.
Chromosome information. 2n = 32.
Distribution. Circumpolar. Low arctic. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago wide-spread. Uncommon. Arctic Islands: Baffin (Kimmirut), Banks (Bernard River, a new record since Porsild (1957), Victoria and Southampton (Coral Harbour).
Ecology and habitat. Substrate depressions of low centre polygons, tundra, slopes (and ledges); imperfectly drained; calcareous; silt, till. Found infrequently on rolling or gently sloping till plains on turf or with Dryas. On slopes, it has been reported with Salix richardsonii and ericaceous shrubs. Polunin (1940) noted that it occurs in marshy lowland areas that are not too wet in summer or too overgrown by ranker species and that it also occurs on better drained, grassy areas and among heaths where the surface is dry, although just underneath there is generally a plentiful supply of water.
Notes. In a study correlating Arctic vegetation and snow cover in southeastern Victoria Island, Schaefer and Messier (1995) found that C. vaginata exhibited positive associations with various measures of snow cover. It is thought that snow cover may reduce the rate of desiccation, protect plants from abrasion, and insulate from low temperatures.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen. Plants with conspicuously long horizontal stems. CAN 259371. • Herbarium specimen. Right hand stems with terminal staminate inflorescences at anthesis; pistillate spikes are younger and not yet conspicuous . CAN 151928. • Herbarium specimen. Plant with inflorecence spikes widely spaced. Terminal spike is staminate, lateral spikes are pistillate. Note the long horizontal stems. CAN 26964. • Close-up of inflorescence. Terminal spike staminate. Lateral spikes pistillate, the lower one somewhat remote. Floral scales shorter than the perigynia with margins and midveins pale. Perigynia with long beaks. CAN 279152. • 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).
