Carex lachenalii subsp. parkeri
Common name
sedge
Synonyms
Carex parkeri Petrie
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.
CARLSP
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP
2004 | Sparse
Distribution
Endemic. South Island from Nelson to Fiordland.
Habitat
Favouring high altitude sites (> 1000 m.a.s.l.) this sedge has been collected from damp seepages within tussock grassland, from cushion bogs and on the margins of streams.
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).
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Tufted sedge arising from a deeply rooted, ascending rhizome. Culms 30-200 x 1 mm, trigonous, wiry and pliant, glabrous, sometimes scabrid above; basal sheaths cream, grey or light brown. Leaves < culms, < 2 mm wide, somewhat striated, distinctly channelled or occasionally flat, graminaceous, apices obtuse to subacute, margins faintly serrulate towards the apex. Inflorescence a single dark brown terminal head, 8-15 mm long, composed of 2-4 contiguous spikes; subtending bracts scarcely different from glumes. Spikes 5-8 mm long, with male flowers confined to the base. Glumes equal to, or slightly less than utricle length, broadly ovate, obtuse to sub-acute, dark brown with lighter brown midrib and broad, pale brown, hyaline margins. Utricles 2.5-3 x 1.5 mm, plano-convex, oblong-ovoid, indistinctly nerved, margins glabrous, contracted to a narrow, dark brown or black beak 0.5-0.6 long, this puckered below to form a broad, pale brown stipe < 0.5 mm long. Stigmas 2. Nut 1.5-1.7 mm long, light brown, oblong-obovoid to almost orbicular.
Similar taxa
Easily recognised by the very short glume-like bracts subtending the inflorescence, small red-brown spikes and the wingless, scarcely beaked utricles. It is perhaps closest to C. echinata Murray, which differs from C. lachenalii subsp. parkeri by the distant, greenish-brown, rather than red-brown, crowded spikes, and by the mature utricles which spread outwards in a stellate pattern rather than remain compact to form a narrow, terminal spike-like head.
Flowering
October - December
Fruiting
October - April
Life cycle
Nuts surrounded by inflated utricles are dispersed by granivory and wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown
Threats
Believed to be biologically sparse and naturally uncommon. However this sedge is not often collected, and further field work into its conservation status is needed.
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
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