Carex drucei
Common names
Druce’s bastard grass, Druce’s hook sedge
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Stoloniferous, widely spreading, pale green to reddish-green plants. Stolons c. 0.5 mm diameter. Culms 50–200 × 0.3–1.0 mm, glabrous; basal bracts light brown or straw-coloured. Leaves 5–6–(8) per culm, < culms, 1.0–1.5 mm wide, bright green, soft, the abaxial surface with 3–5 very pale green, raised veins, margins scabrid and tapering towards the narrow, triangular apex. Spikes 5–20 × 3–4 mm, up to 10 mm diam. at maturity, oblong, female flowers 7–18, densely crowded, internodes 0.5–1.5 mm long. Glumes ≥ utricles, deciduous, subacute, membranous, pale brown with broad green midrib. Utricles 4–5 × c. 1 mm, trigonous, elliptic-lanceolate, dark brown, shining, smooth except for a prominent lateral nerve, widely spreading when ripe, slightly contracted below to a stipe c. 1 mm long and above to a beak c. 1.5 mm long.
Similar taxa
Close to Carex edura K.A.Ford, which is a very variable species. From Carex edura, C. drucei differs by its widely spreading, stoloniferous rather than tufted or shortly rhizomatous growth habit, usually more numerous, much narrower, grass-like, soft rather than harshly scabrid leaves, and by the shorter, oblong rather than broadly pyramidal spikes with smaller dark-brown rather than green-brown to dark brown glossy utricles.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand; North Island, South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura from Mt Hikurangi and Mt Taranaki south.
Habitat
.Alpine. In cushion bog, fellfield, snow banks, seepages and herbfield
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Uncinia drucei Hamlin; Uncinia drucei var. pauciflora Hamlin
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–January
Fruiting
December–April
Propagation technique
Unknown. Probably easily cultivated in an alpine house of rock garden, grown from fresh seed and by division of established plants.
Other information
New Zealand botanical history note
For a brief biography of AP (Tony) Druce, for whom this plant is named, see this article in Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Hundreds of Tony’s famed plant lists can be found here and back-issues of regional Botanical Society Journals which he contributed can be accessed here.
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
drucei: Named after Anthony (Tony) Peter Druce, one of New Zealand’s most respected field botanist (1920-1999).
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.
CARDRC
Chromosome number
2n = 88
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 30 August 2006: Description adapted from Moore and Edgar (1970).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Carex drucei Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-drucei/ (Date website was queried)