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  4. Carex imbecilla

Carex imbecilla

Reproduced with permission from Stewart Island plants (1982).<br>Photographer: Hugh D. Wilson, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Cultivated specimen, ex Moeraki River, West Coast.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 23/02/2015, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common name

feeble bastard grass, hook sedge

Synonyms

Uncinia gracilenta Hamlin

Family

Cyperaceae

Authority

Carex imbecilla K.A.Ford

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.

UNCGRA

Chromosome number

2n = 88

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

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: North (from about Whangarei south) South (Marlborough Sounds, northern Marlborough, Nelson, Otago, South Canterbury, Westland, Fiordland) and Stewart Islands

Habitat

Mostly montane forest, cloud forest or in subalpine scrub, often on or near rotting logs. Descending to coastal areas in the southern part of its range.

Features

Loosely tufted, dark green or reddish-green plants. Culms 100.0-420.0 × c.0.5 mm, glabrous or rarely scabrid below inflorescence; basal sheaths dark brown, shining. Leaves 4-6 per culm, usually > culm, 1.0-2.0 mm, wide, dark green or reddish green, margins moderately scabrid. Spikes 50-70 × c.2 mm, usually bracteate, the bract leaf-like and far overtopping spike, or setose and shorter than spike, female flowers c.15-20, ± equidistant in lower part of spike with internodes to 6 mm long, c.2 mm apart above. Glumes < utricles, deciduous, acuminate, hyaline with green midrib. Utricles 4-5 × c.1mm, trigonous, elliptic-lanceolate or oblong, green, faintly nerved with the lateral nerves more prominent, scarcely spreading when ripe, stipe 1.0-1.5 mm long, beak c.1mm long.

Similar taxa

Distinguished from other species by the glossy (shining), dark brown, basal bracts and the short, (usually hidden amongst the leaves), lax-flowered spikes with ± equidistant utricles. Carex imbecilla shares with C. erebus K.A.Ford and C. aucklandica (Hamlin) K.A.Ford dark brown basal bracts, from both these species it is distinguished by the spikes which are greater than 50 mm long. Uncinia hookeri is confined to the Subantarctic islands, and C. aucklandica the southern South Island, Stewart Island and Auckland and Campbell Islands. Carex imbecilla is potentially sympatric with only C. aucklandica, and only then in the very southern part of its range.

Flowering

October - December

Fruiting

November - April

Propagation technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and by division of established plants - though these may take a while to settle. Prefers moist soil in a a semi-shaded site.

Etymology

carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.

imbecilla: Weak

Where To Buy

Not Commercially Available

Attribution

Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by Peter J. de Lange 17 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.

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Carex imbecilla Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-imbecilla/ (Date website was queried)

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