Carex torreyi Tuckerm. 



TORREY'S SEDGE 



Cyperaceae 



PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



L FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: None. 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: None. 



2. STATE: G4 SI (critically imperiled). Based on this study, its state rank will 



be changed to "S3" (vulnerable in Montana). 



DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Torreys sedge is a 



perennial grass-like plant that forms small clumps of stems 2.5-4 dm (10-16 

 in.) tall from short-prolonged rootstocks (Figure 9, Appendix E-7). Leaves are 

 L5-3.2 mm wide, well-developed, and on the lower third of the stem. Flowers 

 are clustered in multiple spikelets, with the male (staminate) spike on top and 

 1-3 female (pistillate) spikes below, subtended by sheathless bracts, the lowest 

 which is usually longer than the inflorescence. The pistillate spike is usually 

 on a short peduncle, and is 6-16 mm long. The pistillate spikes are sessile of 

 on a very short peduncle, 6-12 mm long, and closely 10-25-flowered. The 

 female flowers (perigynia) are ascending on the spikelet, 2.5-3.2 mm long, 

 obscurely triangular in cross-section, tapering at the base into a short stipe, and 

 abruptly rounded and depressed at the apex. They have mostly 3 stigmas, and 

 trigonous achenes which are pubescent (Hermann 1970). In Montana, fruits 

 develop in mid to late June, depending on climate and local conditions, and 

 usually persist for almost 3 weeks before dispersing. 



2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Cespitose from short-prolonged rootstocks; 

 culms slender, erect, 2.5-4 dm high, short-pubescent, very rough above, red- 

 tinged at the base, usually exceeding the leaves; leaves 2 or 3 to a culm, on the 

 lower one-third of the culms, short-pilose, flat with somewhat revolute 

 margins, 1.5-3.25 mm wide, the sheaths tight, soft-pubescent, cinnamon-brown 

 tinged, deeply concave at the mouth, the conspicuous ligule longer than wide; 

 terminal spike staminate, linear-clavate, usually short-pedimcled, 8-16 mm 

 long, 2-4 mm wide; pistillate spikes 1-3, short-oblong, -12 mm long, 4-7 mm 

 wide, closely 10-25-flowered, erect, sessile of short-peduncled, approximate or 

 the lowest somewhat separate; bracts sheathless or nearly so, the lowest as long 

 as or longer than the inflorescence, the uppermost much smaller; scales ovate- 



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