Carex lurida
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
sallow sedge
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Simplified description
Grass-like bright green, clump-forming plant, up to 90 cm tall, with large green spiky catkins (up to 4 cm long and 1.5 cm wide).
Flower colours
Green
Detailed description
Dense clumps up to 90 cm tall. Stems stout, erect, 3-angled, smooth or slightly scabrid on angles below inflorescence. Leaves 5–8 mm wide, ± = stems, flat, many small internal septa noticeable when dry; sheaths red to almost black. Inflorescence of large approximate spikes each with long leaf-like bract. Male spike 1, 5-6 cm × 2 mm, peduncle short; glumes narrow with long scabrid awns. Female spikes usually 3, upper sessile, rest shortly pedunculate, 2–4 × ± 1.5 cm, glumes much < utricles except at base of spike, narrow, hyaline, with an extremely long awn. Utricles 6–9 × 2–4 mm, strongly inflated, distinctly nerved, shining, smooth, greenish-brown, beak very narrow, bifid, c. ½ length of utricle. Stigmas 3. Nut trigonous, obovate, style strongly curved above base.
Similar taxa
Superficially similar to the native Carex maorica, differing in the more yellow-green foliage, longer and narrower (up to 6 × 1 cm) female spikes with shorter beaks. The leaf-like bracts on the flowering spikes help identify Carex lurida.
Distribution
Scattered and locally common in Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Tasman and Westland.
Habitat
Lowland swamps, roadside drains.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
Late spring to early summer
Fruiting
Summer to autumn
Year naturalised
1945
Origin
North America
Reason for introduction
Ornamental plant
Control techniques
Not controlled in New Zealand.
Life cycle and dispersal
Seed dispersed by contaminated machinery or waterfowl.
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]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Champion P. et al. 2020. Freshwater Invasive Species of New Zealand 2020. NIWA publication. https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/FreInSpec.pdf
Healy AJ, Edgar E. 1980. Flora of New Zealand, Volume III. Adventive Cyperaceous, Petalous and Spathaceous Monocotyledons. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 220 p.
Johnson PN, Brooke PA. 1989. Wetland plants in New Zealand. DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington, NZ. 319 p.
Attribution
Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Features description from Healy and Edgar (1980).
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.