Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois

Carex grisea
Wood gray sedge, Inflated narrow-leaf sedge
Taxonomy

Synonyms: Carex amphibola var. turgida

Subspecific taxa:

Classification:

Other taxonomic & nomenclature sources: USDA Plants;  ITIS;  The Plant List;  IPNI

Images

   
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Species Distribution
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More about map & occurrence records

County Map Legend
Absent:
Not known from county
Medium confidence:
Medium or unknown confidence;
often old records or unverifiable observations
Medium-high confidence:
Often observations by expert botanists
High confidence:
Often vouchered herbarium records
Planted / introduced:
Native species introduced outside historic range,
or only in planted locations within county (e.g., restorations)
Historic / extirpated:
Only historic records for the species; likely extirpated
(Note that this category is not yet functional)

North American distribution maps for this species: FLNA;  USDA Plants;  BONAP;  BISON

Collections, Observations & Flowering by Month [?]

J
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F
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M
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A
0
M
0
J
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J
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A
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S
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O
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N
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D
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Collections & Observations by Decade [?]

Species Status

Status/Listing: No Information

Notes:

Origin: Native

Species Description

General: Monocot, perennial

Roots: adventitious, fibrous

Shoots: alternate leaf arrangment; simple leaf type; entire leaf margin; Parallel leaf venation; awl-shaped leaf shape

Inflorescence: spike

Flowers: unisexual, monoecious; 3 merous; incomplete, not petals, not sepals; hypogynous ovary position

Fruit: achene

Physiology: autotrophic

Reproduction:

Ecology & Natural History

Habitat: Species is distributed in ravines and valleys.

ILPIN Notes: (Carex amphibola Steud. var. turgida Fern. & C. amphibola var. rigida (Bailey) Fern. - R. 4); SCS-V.2 - less than Carex amphibola Steud. turgida Fernald; greater than Carex corrugata Fernald. The description of C. grisea includes the description of C. amphibola var. turgida, and plants of C. grisea have been included in the description of C. corrugata; one or more sources have used C. grisea to include plants covered by C. corrugata. Terminal spike is staminate or barely with a few perigynia. Lateral spikes 3-5, pistillate. Species is found throughout Illinois. This is a robust plant, 2-8 dm tall. Leaves are flat, dark green. Plant base brown-green. Staminate spikes are inconspicuous, sessile to short-peduncled. Pistillate spikes are clustered towards the culm tip, are thick and long, with many perigynia. Pistillate scales often exceed perigynia and have a long, scabrous awn. Perigynia are inflated. This species is similar to Carex amphibola but is more robust (Ref. 2).

Functional Relationships:

  • Pollinators:
  • Dispersal:
  • Mycorrhizae:
  • N2 fixation:

Human Relationships:

  • Edibility [?] :
  • Showy Flowers:

Wildlife and Livestock Information:

  • Food Value:
  • Cover Value:

Coefficient of Conservatism (C-value) [?] :

  • Entire State: 3
  • Chicago Area: 2

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