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  4. Carex litorosa

Carex litorosa

Awarua Bay, Southland.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Carex litorosa.<br>Photographer: Cathy Jones, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Whitiau Scientific Reserve, Whangaehu River mouth.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Habitat of Carex litorosa.<br>Photographer: Cathy Jones, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Tautuku Estuary, Catlins.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Licence: All rights reserved.
Pounawea.<br>Photographer: John Barkla, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Carex litorosa.<br>Photographer: Bec Stanley, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0'>CC BY-SA</a>.
Waitakere.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 22 October 2007, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Male spikelets. Waitakere.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 22 October 2007, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Papanui Inlet, Otago Peninsula.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, 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>
Papanui Inlet, Otago Peninsula.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, 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>
Fiordland.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 26 August 2013, 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 plant, ex Milford Sound.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 3 April 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

sea sedge

Synonyms

Carex littoralis Petrie, Carex australis Kirk

Family

Cyperaceae

Authority

Carex litorosa L.H.Bailey

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.

CARLIT

Chromosome number

2n = 48

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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: RR

Previous conservation statuses

2009 | At Risk – Declining

2004 | Serious Decline

Distribution

Endemic to North, South and Stewart Islands.

Habitat

Coastal in salty, brackish marshes and on sandy, tidal river banks.

Features

An upright sedge to 800 mm tall (but usually smaller), that forms pale green or reddish, dense tussocks with curly tops. Leaves are flat on one side, curved on the other and slightly serrated along the edge, 1.5 mm wide and about the same length as the flower stem. Flower stems are cylindrical and upright, with light brown spikes.

Similar taxa

Carex divisa, which also grows in saltmarshes but has blue-grey leaves, and smaller, compact black spikes borne on long stems near the apex of the leaves of each tussock.

Flowering

October to December

Fruiting

December to April (but seedheads long persistent)

Life cycle

Nuts surrounded by inflated utricles are dispersed by granivory and wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easy from fresh seed and by the divison of whole plants. Very easy to grow in a range of substrates.

Threats

Habitat loss through coastal development. Encroachment by weeds is a serious problem in the North Island, especially from species such as spartina, tall fescue and Carex divisa.

Etymology

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

litorosa: From the Latin littus ‘shore’, meaning shore-loving or growing on the shore

Attribution

Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 2 September 2003.

References and further reading

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

Citation

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

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