Carex goyenii
Common name
Goyen’s sedge
Synonyms
None
Family
Cyperaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
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.
CARGOY
Current conservation status
The conservation 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). 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.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island throughout but scarce in Westland and absent from Southland.
Habitat
Montane to alpine. In dense beech forest, on alluvial terraces in forest and scrub or in damp places in tussock grassland.
Features
Stiffly erect to spreading, tufted yellow-green sedge, 0.25-1.00 m tall. Culms 100-450 × 1–2 mm, trigonous, slightly scabrid; basal sheaths dark brown. Leaves much > culms, 3.5-6.0 mm wide, double-folded, coriaceous, margins scabrid. Spikes 4-8, the uppermost approximate, the lower 2-3 often more distant; 1(-2) terminal spikes occasionally male, but more often partly or almost wholly female; remaining female spikes 15-40 × 4-7 mm, cylindrical, sessile or shortly pedunculate. Glumes c. 2/3 length of utricles, ovate, often emarginate, brown, membranous, with a pale brown midrib produced to a short scabrid awn. Utricles 3.0-4.0 × c.1.5 mm, plano-convex to unequally biconvex, ellipsoid or obovoid, faintly nerved to distinctly ridged, pale greenish brown spotted with fine red-brown striae, slightly narrowed to a < 1 mm long with scabrid margins and orifice. Stigmas 2. Nuts slightly < 2 mm long, plano-convex, oblong or obovoid, dark brown.
Similar taxa
The usually stiffly erect to stiffly spreading yellow-green leafy tufts, double-folded leaves, equidistant, short, stout, barrel-shaped spikes, and pale brown, membranous glumes are especially diagnostic of this usually montane to subalpine species. Carex goyenii has no obvious close relatives.
Flowering
October - December
Fruiting
November - 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 established plants. Excellent for a permanently damp situation in a shaded site but will tolerate full sun and dry conditions once established. The yellow-green foliage is especially attractive.
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared 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.
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 goyenii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-goyenii/ (Date website was queried)