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''Carex'' is a vast
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of more than 2,000
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of grass-like
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
s in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of ''Carex'' is known as caricology.


Description

All species of ''Carex'' are
perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
, although some species, such as '' C. bebbii'' and '' C. viridula'' can fruit in their first year of growth, and may not survive longer. They typically have rhizomes, stolons or short
rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...
s, but some species grow in tufts (
caespitose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...
). The culm – the flower-bearing stalk – is unbranched and usually erect. It is usually distinctly triangular in section. The
leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
of ''Carex'' comprise a blade, which extends away from the stalk, and a sheath, which encloses part of the stalk. The blade is normally long and flat, but may be folded, inrolled, channelled or absent. The leaves have parallel
veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...
and a distinct midrib. Where the blade meets the culm there is a structure called the ligule. The colour of foliage may be green, red or brown, and "ranges from fine and hair-like, sometimes with curled tips, to quite broad with a noticeable midrib and sometimes razor sharp edges". The flowers of ''Carex'' are small and are combined into
spikes The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. By using the SPIKES method for introducing a ...
, which are themselves combined into a larger
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
. The spike typically contains many flowers, but can hold as few as one in some species. Almost all ''Carex'' species are monoecious; each flower is either male (staminate) or female (pistillate). A few species are dioecious. Sedges exhibit diverse arrangements of male and female flowers. Often, the lower spikes are entirely pistillate and upper spikes staminate, with one or more spikes in between having pistillate flowers near the base and staminate flowers near the tip. In other species, all spikes are similar. In that case, they may have male flowers above and female flowers below (androgynous) or female flowers above and male flowers below (gynecandrous). In relatively few species, the arrangement of flowers is irregular. The defining structure of the genus ''Carex'' is the bottle-shaped bract surrounding each female flower. This structure is called the perigynium or utricle, a modified prophyll. It is typically extended into a "rostrum" or beak, which is often divided at the tip (bifid) into two teeth. The shape, venation, and vestiture (hairs) of the perigynium are important structures for distinguishing ''Carex'' species. The
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
of ''Carex'' is a dry, one-seeded indehiscent
achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
or
nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
which grows within the perigynium. Perigynium features aid in fruit dispersal.


Ecology and distribution

''Carex'' species are found across most of the world, albeit with few species in tropical lowlands, and relatively few in
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. Most (but not all) sedges are found in
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s – such as
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es, calcareous fens, bogs and other
peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
lands, pond and stream banks,
riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
s, and even ditches. They are one of the dominant plant groups in
arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
and
alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...
, and in wetland habitats with a water depth of up to .


Taxonomy and cytogenetics

The genus ''Carex'' was established by
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
in his work '' Species Plantarum'' in 1753, and is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Estimates of the number of species vary from about 1100 to almost 2000. ''Carex'' displays the most dynamic chromosome evolution of all flowering plants.
Chromosome number Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectivel ...
s range from ''n'' = 6 to ''n'' = 66, and over 100 species are known to show variation in chromosome number within the species, with differences of up to 10 chromosomes between populations. ''Carex'' has been divided into subgenera in a number of ways. The most influential was
Georg Kükenthal Georg Kükenthal (30 March 1864 in Weißenfels – 20 October 1955 in Coburg) was a German pastor and botanist who specialized in the field of caricology. He was the brother of zoologist Willy Kükenthal (1861–1922). From 1882 to 1885 he studi ...
's classification using four subgenera – ''Carex'', ''Vignea'', ''Indocarex'' and ''Primocarex'' – based primarily on the arrangement of the male and female flowers. There has been considerable debate about the status of these four groups, with some species being transferred between groups and some authors, such as
Kenneth Kent Mackenzie Kenneth Kent Mackenzie (1877–1934) was a lawyer and amateur botanist who wrote extensively on the genus ''Carex'' in North America. Taxa Cyperaceae He described the following taxa in the family Cyperaceae (sedges); alternative combinations ...
, eschewing the subgenera altogether and dividing the genus directly into
sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...
. The genus is now divided into around four subgenera, some of which may not, however, be monophyletic: * ''Carex'' subg. ''Carex'' – 1450 species, distributed globally * ''Carex'' subg. ''Psyllophora'' (Degl.) Peterm. (equivalent to Kükenthal's "''Primocarex''") – 70 species * ''Carex'' subg. ''Vignea'' (P. Beauv. ''ex'' T. Lestib.) Peterm. – 350 species, cosmopolitan * ''Carex'' subg. ''Vigneastra'' (Tuckerman) Kükenthal (equivalent to Kükenthal's "''Indocarex''") – 100 species, tropical and subtropical Asia


Fossil record

Several
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
fruits of two ''Carex'' species have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near
Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
.


Uses


Ornamental

''Carex'' species and
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s are popular in
horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, particularly in shady positions.
Native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
are used in
wildland Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
projects,
natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural land ...
, and in
sustainable landscaping Sustainable landscaping is a modern type of gardening or landscaping that takes the environmental issue of sustainability into account. According to Loehrlein in 2009 this includes design, construction and management of residential and commercial g ...
as
drought-tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, deto ...
grass replacements for
lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...
s and garden
meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
s. Some require damp or wet conditions, others are relatively drought-tolerant.
Propagation Propagation can refer to: * Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials * Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda * Reproduction, and other fo ...
is by
seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
or
division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
in spring. The
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s ''
Carex elata ''Carex elata'', tufted sedge, is a species in the genus ''Carex'', native to all of Europe, the Atlas Mountains of Africa, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia. It prefers to grow with its roots in water. Its cultivar 'Aurea' has gained the Royal Horti ...
'' 'Aurea' (Bowles' golden sedge) and '' Carex oshimensis'' 'Evergold' have received the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...
.


Other uses

A mix of dried specimens of several species of ''Carex'' (including ''
Carex vesicaria ''Carex vesicaria'' is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, inflated sedge, and blister sedge. It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America. Description ...
'') have a history of being used as thermal insulation in footwear (such as ''
nutukas Nutukas, finnesko, or simply Sámi boots are traditional Sámi winter footwear made of reindeer hide. Because they are soft, the nutukas will not freeze as solidly as thick boot leather, making them relatively easy to put on after overnight expo ...
'' used by
Sámi people The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
). '' Sennegrass'' is one of the names for such mixes. During the first human expedition to the South Pole in 1911, such a mix were used in ''skaller'', when camps had been set (after each stretch of travelling had been completed). Carsten Borchgrevink of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898-1900 reported “I found the Lapps method of never using socks in their Finn boots answered well. Socks are never used in Finnmarken in winter time, but ‘senne grass’ which they, of course, had a special method of arranging in the 'komager' (Finn boots) … if you get wet feet while wearing the grass in the ‘komager’ you will be warmer than ever, as the fresh grass will, by the moisture and the heat of your feet, in a way start to burn or produce its own heat by spontaneous combustion. The great thing seems to be to arrange the grass properly in the boots, and although we all tried to imitate the Finns in their skill at this work, none of us felt as warm on our feet as when they had helped us.” Species serve as a food source for numerous animals, and some are used as a livestock hay.


Use by Native Americans

The Blackfoot put carex in moccasins to protect the feet during winter. The
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
use an infusion of the leaf to "check bowels". The Ohlone use the roots of many species for basketry. The
Goshute The Goshutes are a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today: * Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, located in Nevada and Utah * Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah o ...
use the root as medicine. The Jemez consider the plant sacred and use it in the
kiva A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...
. The
Klamath people The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes: * Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yahu ...
weave the leaves into mats, use the juice of the pith as a beverage, eat the fresh stems for food and use the tuberous base of the stem for food. The indigenous people of
Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...
use the rootstocks to make baskets and rope. The indigenous people of
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
also weave the leaves into mats and use the young stems as food. The
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
of
Kayenta, Arizona Kayenta ( nv, ) is a U.S. town which is part of the Navajo Nation and is in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Established November 13, 1986, the Kayenta Township is the only "township" existing under the laws of the Navajo Nation, making it ...
grind the seeds into mush and eat them. The
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...
weave it to make spoons. The
Pomo The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small ...
use the roots to make baskets, and use it to tend fishing traps.Gifford, E. W., 1967, Ethnographic Notes on the Southwestern Pomo, Anthropological Records 25:10-15, page 12 They also use it to make torches. The
Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coa ...
use the leaves to make baskets and twine.Turner, Nancy Chapman and Marcus A. M. Bell, 1971, The Ethnobotany of the Coast Salish Indians of Vancouver Island, I and II, Economic Botany 25(1):63-104, 335-339, page 73 The
Songhees The Lekwungen or Lekungen nation (lək̓ʷəŋən often called the Songhees or Songish by non-Lekwungens) are an Indigenous North American Coast Salish people who reside on southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the Greater Victoria a ...
eat the leaves to induce abortions. The
Nlaka'pamux The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...
used the leaves as brushes for cleaning things and use the leaves as
forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...
for their livestock. The
Wailaki The Eel River Athabaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near the Eel River and Van Duzen River o ...
weave the roots and leaves into baskets and use the leaves to weave mats. The
Yuki people The Yuki (also known as Yukiah) are an indigenous people of California, whose traditional territory is around Round Valley, Mendocino County. Today they are enrolled members of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation. Bef ...
use the large roots to make baskets.Curtin, L. S. M., 1957, Some Plants Used by the Yuki Indians ... II. Food Plants, The Masterkey 31:85-94, page 93


References


External links

* Jones, T. M. (2010
Interactive Visual Identification to Carices of North America @ LSU Herbarium

eMonocot Cyperaceae
, a portal to updated classification, images, species descriptions, and vetted specimen data for the entire sedge family, with a strong focus on ''Carex''. {{Authority control Cyperaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Plants used in Native American cuisine Plants used in traditional Native American medicine