Pale sedge

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Pale sedge
Pale sedge (Carex pallescens)

Pale sedge ( Carex pallescens )

Systematics
Monocots
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sourgrass family (Cyperaceae)
Genre : Sedges ( Carex )
Type : Pale sedge
Scientific name
Carex pallescens
L.

The pale sedge ( Carex pallescens ) is a species of the genus Sedge ( Carex ) within the sour grass family (Cyperaceae). It is widespread in the northern hemisphere .

description

Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 15

Vegetative characteristics

The pale sedge grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and usually reaches heights of 15 to 50 centimeters. It has no runners and forms small clumps . The basic sheaths are brown. The upright stalk is triangular and a bit rough on top. The scattered hairy, flaccid-looking leaves are significantly shorter than the stem. The leaf blades are 2 to 3 millimeters wide and are yellow to grass green.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period is mainly from May to July. The inflorescence is short and contains a terminal, pale brown male spikelet and two to three closely below, greenish female spikelets. With a length of up to 2 centimeters, the female spikelets have a short, cylindrical shape and have a characteristic "mulberry-like" appearance due to the dense fruit sacs.

The fruit sacs are 2.5 to 3 millimeters in length, are unbeaked and completely bare. You have three scars. The husks are green, egg-shaped and slightly shorter than the fruit sacs.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 62, 64 or 66.

Occurrence

The pale sedge is widespread in the northern hemisphere from Europe to central Asia and from eastern Canada to the northern United States. It is a northeast Eurasian floral element . In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the pale sedge is widespread and in some areas quite common.

Carex pallescens grows in light forests and bushes. It is also found in damp meadows and on alpine pastures rich in bushes. It thrives best on moderately shaded, moist, lime-poor, compacted and acidic soils . It occurs in societies of the order Nardetalia, Atropetalia and the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. In the Allgäu Alps, it rises on the Kreuzeck in Bavaria to an altitude of 2350 meters.

The pale sedge is an indicator of leanness . It is one of the few species in its genus that likes to be grazed by game and Alpine cattle and thus has a certain feed value .

Taxonomy

Carex pallescens was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum , p. 977. Synonyms for Carex pallescens L. are: Carex pallida Salisb. nom. illeg., Carex chalcodeta V.I.Krecz. , Carex leucantha Schur , Carex microstoma Franch. , Carex tymphaea Formánek , Carex undulata Kunze , Carex pallescens var. Alpestris Kohts nom. illeg., Carex pallescens var. chalcodeta (VIKrecz.) Ö.Nilsson , Carex pallescens var. luxuriosa Kük. , Carex pallescens var. Subglabra Beck , Carex pallescens var. Leucantha (Schur) Asch. & Graebn. , Carex pallescens subvar. macrocarpa Briq. , Carex pallescens var. Macrocarpa (Briq.) Rouy , Carex pallescens var. Neogaea Fernald , Carex pallescens var. Orophila Briq. , Carex pallescens var. Subsilvatica Kük. , Carex pallescens var. Undulata (Kunze) J. Carey . The specific epithet pallescens means pale.

  • Habitus

  • Stems and leaves

  • Female spikelets

  • Fruit cluster with fruit sacs

literature

  • Konrad von Weihe (ed.): Illustrated flora. Germany and neighboring areas. Vascular cryptogams and flowering plants . Founded by August Garcke. 23rd edition. Paul Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-489-68034-0 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .
  • Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  • Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: Our grasses. 8th edition. Franckh, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-440-05284-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  184 .
  2. ↑ a b c Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Carex pallescens. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings . Volume 1, IHW-Verlag, Eching near Munich, 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 261.

Web links

Commons : Pale Sedge ( Carex pallescens )  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files