Carex appressa
Common name
southern cutty grass, tussock sedge
Synonyms
Carex appressa R.Br. var. appressa; Carex paniculata L. var. appressa (R.Br.) Cheeseman
Family
Cyperaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Sedges
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CARAPP
Chromosome number
2n = 60-62
Current conservation status
The threat classification status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. North Island (Cook Strait region only), South Island (scattered, more common in the southern regions), Stewart, Chatham, Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands. Also New Caledonia, Australia and New Guinea. Naturalised around Auckland City.
Habitat
Mostly coastal, extending to montane in the subantarctic islands. Preferring open situations, usually on the margins of peat bogs or peaty, slow-flowing streams.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland).
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Stout, rhizomatous sedge, forming robust, harsh and rigid, dark green tussocks. Culms 0.2–1.4 m tall, 3.0–6.5 mm wide, acutely trigonous, angles prominently scabrid above; basal sheaths shining, light to dark grey-brown, rarely purple-brown. Leaves usually > culms, 3–7 mm wide, channelled, stiffly erect, immature leaves with pungent apices, margins and keel very scabrid. Inflorescence an erect, elongated, mostly compact, stiff panicle 60–250 x 10–30 mm, usually interrupted below, branchlets us. < 35 mm long, more crowded above, appressed to inflorescence axis. Spikes 5–6 mm long, red-brown, ovoid, androgynous, male flowers terminal. Glumes slightly < utricles, ovate, acute, often furnished with a short scabrid mucro, brown with lighter brown midrib. Utricles c.2.5–3.5 x 1.5 mm, plano-convex, conspicuously many-nerved, dark brown; tapered to a beak 1.0–1.5 mm long, margins distinctly toothed, orifice bifid; sharply constricted to a narrow stipe 2–4 mm. long. Stigmas 2. Nut c.1.5 mm. long, plano-convex, oblong-obovoid, light or dark brown.
Similar taxa
Carex appressa most closely resembles C. virgata Sol. ex Boott, especially as the inflorescence of both species is a stiffly erect contracted panicle, further, both species have similar distinctly nerved utricles. However, C. virgata has more slender culms, narrower leaves and paler brown, less dense-flowered panicles. In C. appressa the utricles are > 2.5 mm long while those of C. virgata are < 2.5 mm long.
Flowering
September - December
Fruiting
December - June
Life cycle
Nuts surrounded by inflated utricles are dispersed by granivory and wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and by the division of whole plants. Will tolerate most conditions but does best in full sun in a permanently damp soil. Rather variable and some horticultural selection is warranted. The typical form with stiffly erect, densely compacted inflorescences is perhaps the most attractive.
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (110 August 2006). Description adapted from Moore and Edgar (1970)
References and further reading
Moore, L.B.; Edgar, E. 1970: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. II. Government Printer, Wellington. On the Chatham Islands C. appressa appears to intergrade with, or hybridise with C. virgata.
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 2009 Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Carex appressa Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-appressa/ (Date website was queried)