Carex purpurata
Common names
purple bastard grass, tussock hook grass
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Sedges
Detailed description
Tufted, caespitose, gracile sedge. Culms 40–400 × 0.5 mm, finely scabrid below inflorescence; basal bracts dull brown to yellow brown. Leaves 3–5 per culm, much < than mature culms in length, 1–2 mm wide, erect or slightly curved, faintly scabrid on the margins and undersides, especially towards the leaf apex. Spikes 25–40 × 3–4 mm, ebracteate, female flowers 10–20, close set, becoming rather lax at maturity with internodes up to 5 mm apart near base of spike, 1.5 mm above. Glumes mostly ½–¾ glume length, persistent, broadly ovate, obtuse or lowermost subacute, coriaceous, bright chesnut-brown with a green or light brown midrib and broad, whitish to white-grey hyaline margins. Utricle 4.5–5.5. × 1–2 mm, plano-convex, oblong or obovate, dark brown with numerous faint veins, beak 1–1.5 mm long, stipe c. 1 mm long.
Similar taxa
Perhaps closest to Carex penalpina K.A.Ford from which it differs by its much more gracile/slender habit, faintly scabrid leaves and especially by the bright chesnut-brown colour of the glumes. Unlike Carex penalpina, the glumes of C. purpurata are markedly shorter than the utricles. Despite the specific epithet, C. purpurata often has a washed out, whitish green colouration, only the occasional plant is wine-red or purple-tinged. In the field C. purpurata can be recognised by the dark spikes, narrowly hyaline glume margin and dark brown almost black immature utricles which fade to chestnut as the utricle matures and spreads. In some examples the glume may be dark chestnut. The leaves of C. purpurata are usually much narrower than C. penalpina which has more obviously coriaceous and curved leaves that those of C. purpurata which are staight to curved and very pliant.
Distribution
Endemic. South Island, Canterbury (Fox Hill), Otago (hills near Dunedin, Ben Lomond, Mt Benger and other peaks and ranges of Central Otago) and Southland.
Habitat
A species of damp, open ground under montane forest and subalpine scrub, in tall tussock grassland, in grey scrub and in or near cliff faces. It prefers damp sites in seepages, near small springs or under rock overhangs.
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.
- 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
Threats
This species is never abundant at any particular location and is quite widespread, though rather localised, being a truly biologically sparse, naturally uncommon sedge. It does not appear to have suffered any decline, indeed as a result of field surveys over the last 20 years it is now known to be quite secure and widespread over much of its range.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Uncinia purpurata Petrie
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–November
Fruiting
October–April
Propagation technique
Probably easily grown in a suitably moist, peaty soil.
Other information
Etymology
carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.
purpurata: Purplish in colour
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.
CARPUR
Chromosome number
2n = 88
Previous conservation statuses
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.
- 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.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Sparse
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | At Risk – Regionally Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DPR, DPS, DPT, NR, NStr, Sp, St, TL
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.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Peter J. de Lange 17 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 purpurata Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/carex-purpurata/ (Date website was queried)