Compilation
Carex bigelowii

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Name

Identification
Carex bigelowii Torr. ex Schwein. [family CYPERACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on Sheet, Carex drejeriana Lange [family CYPERACEAE ] Verified by Not on Sheet, Carex rigida Good. [family CYPERACEAE ] Verified by Ostenfeld, C.E.H., 1879
Related name
  • Carex rigida
  • Carex friedrichsthaliana
  • Carex washingtoniana
  • Carex consimilis
  • Carex bigelowii
  • Carex hyperborea
  • Carex drejeriana
  • Carex anguillata
  • Carex warmingii
  • Carex beringiana
Common name
  • Carex de Bigelow, Flora of North America Vol. 23

Flora

Entry for Carex bigelowii Torrey ex Schweinitz [family CYPERACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 23,
Names
Carex bigelowii Torrey ex Schweinitz [family CYPERACEAE], Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York, 1: 67. 1824
Treatment Author(s)
Peter W. Ball
A. A. Reznicek
Information
Plants cespitose or not. Culms acutely angled, 10–50 cm, scabrous. Leaves: sheaths of proximal leaves glabrous, fronts lacking spots and veins, apex concave; blades 1.5–4 mm wide. Inflorescences: proximal bract setaceous or foliaceous, shorter than inflorescence, 0.5–3 mm wide. Spikes erect; proximal (1–)2–3 spikes pistillate, 0.7–3 cm × 3–4 mm, base cuneate or attenuate; terminal 1(–2) spikes staminate. Pistillate scales black, equaling or shorter than perigynia, apex obtuse or acute, awnless. Perigynia ascending, green, spotted purple-black or mottled on apical 1/2, veinless, somewhat flattened, tightly enclosing the achenes, ellipsoid, 1.5–3.5 × 0.9–2 mm, dull, apex rounded or acute, papillose; stipe to 0.45 mm; beak 0–0.2(–1) mm. Achenes not constricted, dull.
Distribution
North AmericaEuropeAsia.
Discussion
Carex bigelowii is a highly variable, circumpolar species complex with four subspecies recognized in Europe (A. O. Chater 1980). The North American populations can be divided into an eastern and a western taxon, which cannot always be distinguished morphologically. They are recognized as two subspecies of a widely ranging complex for this treatment.
Carex bigelowii appears to be closely related to the western montane C. scopulorum; it is distinguished by its narrower leaves and narrower, ellipsoid perigynia. Tall plants of C. bigelowii may be confused with C. aquatilis (especially C. aquatilis var. minor) and can be distinguished by the short bracts, hypostomic leaves, and dull achenes of C. bigelowii. These two taxa have been reported to hybridize (M. G. Duman and S. D. Kryszczuk 1958) and have been artificially hybridized by J. S. Faulkner (1973), who found that these two species were very closely related.

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