Carex fretalis
Common names
curly sedge
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Stiffly erect, tufted light yellow-green sedge with distinctly much curled and twisted leaf apices. Culms 100–150 × 0.5 mm, terete, glabrous, often elongating at maturity and becomign somewhat pendant toward the apex; basal sheaths light brown. Leaves more or less equal, or somewhat > culms, 1 mm wide, plano-convex, margins scabrid towards the very strongly cirrhose apex. Spikes 4–7; single terminal male spike rather slender; remaining spikes female, 10–25 × 4–5 mm, more or less oblong, more or less distant, erect, the uppermost sessile or shortly pedunculate, the lowest on a slender, pendant peduncle up to 10 mm long. Glumes (excluding awn) usually slightly < or equal to utricles, ovate-acuminate, hyaline though closely dotted with red brown striae, the cream midrib thickened and prolonged to an awn as long as glume or longer. Utricles 3.5 × 1 mm, plano-convex, ovoid, turgid, buff brown to tawny-yellow or tan, usually with distinctly paler nerves; scarcely narrowed to a glabrous beak, crura conspicuous, sometimes scabrid on margins; stipe relatively thick, 0.5 mm long, pale brown. Stigmas 3. Nut 1.5 mm, dark grey, trigonous, oblong-obovoid.
Similar taxa
Very closely related to Carex comans Bergg., from which it differs by the usually pale yellow-green leaves with strongly curled (cirrhose) apices, and light brown, never purple-brown basal sheaths. The inflorescence tends to be shorter and more stiffly erect and the spikes fewer, broader and with larger, usually glabrous utricles, which have a scarcely narrowed, usually glabrous beak rather than the distinct, and very scabrid beak seen in C. comans.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, Southland (Foveaux Strait area, Bluff Hill, Centre Island) and Stewart Island/Rakiura.
Naturalised in Tasmania (where it is erroneously known as C. comans Bergg.).
Habitat
A coastal species of relatively, exposed, open, damp, peaty ground, often overlying beach gravels. At Bluff Hill it has invaded surrounding pasture and is locally common along the track sides leading to the summit. On Stewart Island it often grows along tracks sides within the coastal portions of their routes, and is said to spread aggressively following fires or in heavily grazed areas.
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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Threats
Carex fretalis is perhaps least common in the Southland part of its range but it is abundant over large parts of Stewart Island/Rakiura. However, it is declining because of habitat loss.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–December
Fruiting
October–August
Life cycle and dispersal
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. It is this species which is the original Carex comans cv. ‘Frosted Curls’ popular in cultivation, which was first discovered by Terry Hatch of Joy Plants, Pukekohe on Bluff Hill and mistakenly assigned to C. comans Bergg. However, over the last decade much of what is sold as cv. ‘Frosted Curls’ is now, ironically, the green form of C. comans s.s. Carex fretalis does well in cultivation in a moist, free draining sunn situation or in semi-shade. It is naturalised in Tasmania.
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). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FAC: Facultative
Commonly occurs as either a hydrophyte or non-hydrophyte (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
fretalis: Belonging to a strait
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.
CARFRE
Chromosome number
2n = c.60-64
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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP
2004 | Range Restricted
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 | At Risk – Regionally Declining | Qualifiers: DPR, NR
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 for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (8 September 2006). Description adapted from Moore & 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.