1 mm 
Perigynia of C. nigricans (L), C. rupestris (R). 
Carex paupercula Michx. (= C. magellanica Lam. ssp irrigua 
(Wahl.) Hulten) is a boreal sedge distributed across Eurasia, 
Alaska, and east to the Atlantic. It has been collected in north¬ 
ern portions of Washington, Idaho and Montana (Brainerd et 
al. 1995). Brooks (1994) reported this species in Hells Canyon 
National Recreation Area of the Wallowa-Whitman National 
Forest. Brooks (pers. comm.) claimed her report was founded 
on an Idaho citation (Bingham 1987) in the southern Seven 
Devils Mountains, decidedly beyond our state's borders ( Christ 
8618 , Idaho Co., ID, ?NY). 
Carex paupercula looks like C. limosa andC. pluriflora, and 
all three taxa have densely papillate perigynia. However, only C. 
paupercula has lanceolate scales much longer and more slender 
than the perigynia; the other two species have ovate or elliptic 
scales ca. as long and wide as the perigynia. Carex limosa has 
brown scales that do not wrap around the margin of the 
perigynia, while C. pluriflora has black scales that do wrap around 
the lower margin of the perigynia. 
Carex podocarpa R. Br. is found primarily in the arctic 
latitudes of western Canada, Alaska, and adjacent Asia. It has 
been collected as far south as the mountains of Montana and 
Idaho. Peck (1961) recorded this from "high altitudes in the 
Blue Mountains;" Hulten (1968) and Murray (1970) showit in 
O regon as well. T he O regon records we found were misidentified 
C. spectabilis (OSC, WILLU), C. paysonis (OSC, RM, WILLU, 
I mm 
Perigynia of C. cusickii (L), C. sartwellii (R). 
WS), or C. nigricans (OSC). 
Murray (1970) labeled a Wallowa Co. collection ( Maguire 
& Holmgren 27080C UTC) as C. podocarpa, but in the same 
publication cited a duplicate collection as C. paysonis (Maguire 
& Holmgren 27080C NY). Maguire and Holmgren also collected 
C. spectabilis (Maguire & Holmgren 27080B CS, UTC) at this 
site (Murray 1970). The staff at UTC herbarium in Logan, Utah, 
could not find the Oregon record of C. podocarpa when we re¬ 
quested a loan of the collection, and suggested it might have 
been annotated to a different species. 
Separation of Carex podocarpa from C. paysonis and C. 
spectabilis is problematic. Carex spectabilis is unique in this triad 
in having awned scales, but this character is not present on all 
scales (Murray 1970). Plants with strongly nerved perigynia are 
either C. spectabilis or C. paysonis, but not all perigynia are nerved 
in C. spectabilis. Rhizomatous and phyllopodic plants are C. 
paysonis, with many leafy sheaths at the base of the stem. The 
other two are more or less cespitose and aphyllopodic, with a 
few blade-bearing sheaths on the lower or middle stem. The 
pistillate spikes of C. podocarpa are on long drooping peduncles, 
while the other two often have sessile or erect spikes. There are 
also subtle, hard to describe differences in the taper to the beaks 
of the perigynia for all three. 
Carex rostrata Stokes ex With, is a circumboreal wetland 
sedge scattered from Alaska to Newfoundland, and rarely south 
to Washington and Montana. Kovalchik (1992) explained that 
the name C. rostrata is misapplied in Oregon, and our plants 
are the related, broader-leaved species C. utriculata Boott. All 
Oregon reports of C. rostrata ( e.g., Peck, 1961; Hitchcock et al. 
1969) can be referred to C. utriculata. 
Carex rupestris All. circles the pole, and in our region oc¬ 
curs south to British Columbia, Montana, Utah and New 
Mexico. Carex Working Group (1993) originally placed C. 
rupestris on their list of rare Oregon sedges, based on a single 
collection we later reidentified as C. nigricans (OSC). The two 
are separable by their perigynia, which are stalked and reflexed 
in C. nigricans, and erect and stalkless in C. rupestris. 
Carex sartwellii Dewey (var. sartwellii) is common in the 
northern Great Plains, and is found as far west as Montana. 
Kartesz (1999) lists it for Oregon, based on the range maps in 
Carex Working Group (1993). The only specimen was recently 
redetermined as C. cusickii (ORE). Carex sartwellii is rhizoma¬ 
tous, and has a spikate inflorescence bearing unstalked perigynia, 
and thus is easy to distinguish from C. cusickii, which is cespitose, 
and has a paniculate inflorescence with stalked perigynia. 
Carex scopulorum Holm var. prionophylla (Holm) L. A. 
Standley is a tall plant found in the mountains of Washington, 
Idaho and Montana. Peck (1961) reported it (as C. miserabilis) 
from "wet mountain meadows, eastern Oregon." Hitchcock and 
Cronquist (1973) reported it (as C. prionophylla) from north¬ 
eastern Oregon. The Carex Working Group (1993) recorded it 
from Linn, Union and Wallowa Counties. We believe the Linn 
County record was a mapping mistake based on a Marion Co. 
record at WILLU. That and all other specimens we saw were 
26 
Kalmiopsis Volume 7, 2001 
