recently reidentified as C. scopulorum var. bracteosa (ORE, OSC, 
WILLU, WS). Standley (1985) monographed northwestern 
members of section Acutae, which includes this species. In the 
process she annotated Peck 17997 (WILLU) to C. scopulorum 
var. prionophylla. We disagree with her determination, for the 
plant is tall but does not otherwise match well with Idaho mate¬ 
rial that we have seen and Standley has annotated. For example. 
Peck's collection lacks the long bladeless sheaths characteristic 
of var. prionophylla. Curiously, Standley may have had her own 
doubts about the record, for she did not mention Peck's collec¬ 
tion or Oregon in her summary of the distribution of the var. 
prionophylla (Standley 1985). 
Carex scopulorum var. scopulorum is endemic to the south¬ 
ern Rocky Mountains, from Wyoming to New Mexico. Two 
other varieties are found in the Pacific Northwest (Standley 
1985). Prior to Standley's monograph, some standard references 
(e.g., Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973) did not distinguish be¬ 
tween the varieties, thus many older specimen labels do not 
specify a variety. The unfortunate result is that if one of the 
three varieties is not specified, botanists generally assume the 
variety is the typical one, in this case var. scopulorum. This im¬ 
plied variety can be incorrectly assumed by reading Peck (1941, 
1961), who referred to C. scopulorum from "high altitudes in 
the Cascade Mountains." We have examined more than 30 
Oregon collections that could be interpreted as C. scopulorum 
var. scopulorum based on their labels, but all were var. bracteosa 
(CIC, ID, ORE, OSC, WILLU, WS, WTU), C. atrata var. erecta 
(ID) or C. paysonis (ID, ORE). 
Carex siccata Dewey ranges between Maine and Mackenzie 
(Northwest Territories), south to Washington and Arizona. It 
was reported by Howell (1903): "in dry ground, California to 
British Columbia and New York," but K. K. Mackenzie (1931) 
did not find an Oregon collection. Hermann (1970) reported it 
(as C. foenea var. tuberculata ) from Oregon, and he was the source 
for a subsequent report byKartesz (1999). Carex Working Group 
(1993) showed C. siccata in Deschutes and Harney Counties, 
but these vouchers were later found to be misidentified C. 
praegracilis (GH, ORE, WILLU) or C. hoodii (CIC). 
Carex tenera Dewey prefers open terrain, and ranges be¬ 
tween British Columbia and New Mexico, and east to Nova 
Scotia and Georgia. Peck (1961) reported it from "dry ground, 
Oregon," but his voucher, from Josephine Co., is C. subfusca 
(WILLU). Carex tenera is similar to C. bebbii in our area, and 
there are small technical differences that separate them, but usu¬ 
ally the inflorescence will suffice for identification. The lower 
spikes of C. tenera are well-separated (and usually flexuous), while 
the spikes are congested in C. bebbii. 
Carex umbellata Schk. ex Willd. is from eastern North 
America, but is sporadically reported as far west as British Co¬ 
lumbia. Howell (1903) gave its range as "Oregon to the eastern 
states." Reports from Clackamas and Lincoln counties ( Carex 
Working Group 1993) were based on specimens now referred 
to Carex rossii (ORE) or C. brevicaulis (OSC). 
Inflorescences of C. bebbii (L), C. tenera (R). 
The sedges mentioned above were all reported in scientific 
literature, or were based on misidentified collections. Several 
Carices were reported from Oregon electronically, in databases 
of the The Nature Conservancy's Natural Heritage Program, 
the Biota of North America Program, or early drafts of the Or¬ 
egon Flora Project. None of those database reports had any sup¬ 
porting documentation in literature or herbaria we checked. 
Thus we consider each of these database names misapplied to 
the Oregon flora: Carex bonanzensis Britt., C. lupulina Muhl. 
ex Willd., C. platyphylla Carey, and C. senta Boott. 
Acknowledgment s 
The Carex Working Group is a remarkably energetic group of 
botanists who have contributed in countless ways to this re¬ 
search. We appreciate the help of all its members (listed in Wil¬ 
son et al. 1999) over the years. The NPSO has funded much of 
the group's work, and we are grateful. Curators at the following 
institutions provided loans or access to materials: BM, CAS, 
CIC, CU, DAO, GH, HSC, ID, K, MICH, MO, MONTU, 
NY, ORE, OSC, RM, RSA, SOSC, UC, US, UTC, WILLU, 
WS, and WTU. For allowing us to review specimens, we thank 
the staff at Oregon herbaria not listed in Holmgren et al. (1990), 
including Roseburg and Coos Bay Districts of the Bureau of 
Land Management, Wallowa-Whitman, Fremont, Mt. Hood, 
Ochoco, Rogue River, and Siskiyou National Forests, Crater 
Lake National Park (CLNP), Oregon Caves National Monu¬ 
ment, Reed College, and the Douglas County Museum of His¬ 
tory and Natural History. 
Kalmiopsis Volume 7, 2001 
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