Carex forsteri
Common names
Forster’s sedge
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Large leafy tufts. Culms up to 0.9 m tall, 1.0–2.5 mm diameter, trigonous, smooth or occasionally slightly scabrid below inflorescence; basal sheaths dark red-brown. Leaves much > culms, up to 1.2 m long, 3–12 mm wide, double-folded, keel and margins scabrid. Inflorescence of 4–8 spikes; terminal 1–3 spikes wholly or partly male; remaining spikes female with some male flowers at the base, 25–110 × 5–11 mm, ± distant, ± pedunculate, lowest peduncles often long and slender and spikes drooping, green to grey-green. Glumes 2–5 mm. long, lanceolate, gradually tapering to a scabrid awn, membranous, light brown, with a narrow green midrib. Utricles = or slightly > glumes, 4–5 × c. 1 mm, subtrigonous, lanceolate, slightly reflexed, turgid towards the base, distinctly many-nerved, greenish brown, gradually tapering to a beak 1.5–2.0 mm long with an oblique, bifid, scabrid orifice. Stigmas 3. Nut 1.5–2.0 mm long, trigonous, elliptic-obovoid, cream to dark brown.
Similar taxa
Easily distinguished from other wide-leaved carices by the absence of cross-veinlets, and long pedunculate spikes whose utricles have an oblique orifice of the utricle. Most likely to be confused with C. cockayneana as both grow in similar habitats (though C. forsteri is more common at lower elevations) and both have greenish spikes. From C. forsteri, C. cockayneana differs by the utricles which are shorter, smooth (rather than nerved) and have a shorter beak and straight rather than oblique mouth.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North and South Islands. In the North Island common south of Auckland, in the South Island common in Marlborough Sounds and on Banks Peninsula, otherwise sporadic in its occurrences and not recorded from Westland or Fiordland.
Habitat
Coastal to montane (rarely subalpine). Usually in dense forest within high rainfall areas where it grows in wet seepages, depressions and along stream banks. A common species of karst country where it is often very conspicuous around sinkholes (tomo) and at cave entrances. Occasionally found around seepages in tall tussock grassland
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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- 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
Cyperaceae
Synonyms
Carex recurva Schkuhr; Carex punctulata A.Rich.; Carex semiforsteri C.B.Clarke
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September–November
Fruiting
October–May
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 established plants. Excellent for a permanently damp situation in a shaded site where it does best planted within a rich soil.
Other information
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
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.
CARFOR
Chromosome number
2n = 60
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | 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.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (10 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 forsteri Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-forsteri/ (Date website was queried)