﻿Notes on Carex— VIII 



Kenneth Kent Mackenzie 



Carex stricta Lam. and its allies 



Probably the only species of Carex growing in the vicinity of 

 New York, which is abundant enough to make it the distinctive 

 feature over large areas, is the tussock sedge, Carex stricta Lam. 

 Every swamp is full of the great clumps of this plant, usually 

 very largely to the exclusion of everything else. It is with diffi- 

 culty that proper herbarium specimens can be made, as the root- 

 stocks are very heavy and stout. In fact an axe or heavy spade 

 is needed to dig out characteristic specimens. The result is that 

 herbarium specimens are mostly very poor and usually consist 

 of the culms broken off as close to the ground as possible. 



The distinguishing features of this common plant are its 

 habit of forming dense tussocks (or bogs in the vernacular sense), 

 its not being loosely and strongly stoloniferous, its intensely deep 

 green leaves, triangular or channelled at the base, usually light 

 brown culm bases, and but slightly hispidulous sheaths. It is a 

 very rough plant, the perigynia are strongly granular roughened, 

 and the scales are usually light reddish brown tinged. 



Another species which is widely distributed throughout the 

 northeastern United States can be readily told in the field, but 

 much less easily from the usual run of herbarium specimens. 

 This plant grows in great beds and does not form tussocks. It 

 produces many long horizontal stolons; the leaves, at first glau- 

 cous green, in age become light green or blue green, and contrast 

 strongly with the leaves of Carex stricta, when growing near it; 

 the culms at base are brown-purplish tinged, the sheaths are 

 strongly hispidulous, and the scales vary from blackish to dark 

 reddish brown in age, while the leaves are flat or nearly so to the 

 base. The perigynia are slightly more beaked than in Carex 

 stricta, and the lowest bract is noticeably larger. This species is 

 Carex strictior Dewey. It has often been mistaken for Carex 

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