Carex hectorii
Common names
Hector’s sedge
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Shortly rhizomatous, loosely tufted blue-green to red-green sedge of open damp ground, seepages, and flushes in tussock grassland, or fringing cushion bogs, tarns and ponds. Culms 20–120 × 0.5 mm, usually obscured within light brown leaf-sheaths. Leaves longer than culms, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, blue-green (rarely wine red, red-green to bright green), erect, rigid, lamina plano-convex at the base but flattening or occasionally subtrigonous towards the subacute apex, margins distinctly scabrid near the apex. Inflorescence of 3–4 contiguous, sessile or shortly pedunculate spikes 0.5–15 mm long. Spikes subtended by rigid, leaf-like bracts; these longer than inflorescence; terminal spike male, remaining spikes female. Glumes 2.2–2.4 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate, or cuspidate, membranous, brown, with membranous margins and pale green midrib. Utricles 2.5–3 × 1.5–2 mm, trigonous, elliptic-ovoid, spreading, conspicuously multi-nerved when immature, maturing glossy and more or less smooth, dark brown; beak 0.5 mm long, slender, acutely bifid, margins usually ciliate-serrate above; stipe short. Stigmas 3. Nut trigonous.
Similar taxa
Could be confused with Carex uncifolia Cheeseman, from which it chiefly differs by its wider, blue-green to green (rarely wine-red to red-green) rather than dark red to beetroot red leaves, and smooth, dark brown, rather than distinctly nerved, red-brown mature utricles. Carex hectorii is superficially similar to C. decurtata Cheeseman from which it differs by its shortly rhizomatous, lax tufted rather than densely (rigidly) tufted habit, usually blue-green rather than bright-green to yellow-green leaves and dark-brown rather than light brown utricles.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (known only from Mt Taranaki and adjacent Pouakai Range), South Island (widespread in Nelson and Central Otago).
Habitat
A species of montane, subalpine to alpine wetlands, favouring flushes, cushion bogs, seepages or the margins of tarns, ponds usually within 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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Cyperaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September–December
Fruiting
October–July
Life cycle
Nuts surrounded by inflated utricles are dispersed by granivory and wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown from division of whole plants and fresh seed. Does best in a permanently moist soil in full sun. An excellent pot plant. Leaf colour varies and can be unstable in soem populations. This species woudl beenfit from some horticultural selection.
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.
hectorii: Named after Sir James Hector, 19th century New Zealand geologist and botanist who was originally from Scotland
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.
CARHEC
Chromosome number
2n = c.64-68
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN 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 hectorii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-hectorii/ (Date website was queried)