Carex hirta
{{Short description|Species of grass-like plant}}
{{redirect|Hairy sedge||List of plants known as hairy sedge}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Carex hirta utricles.jpg
|image_caption = Female spikes
|genus = Carex
|display_parents = 2
|parent = Carex sect. Carex
|species = hirta
|authority = L.
}}
Carex hirta, the hairy sedge or hammer sedge, is a species of sedge native across Europe. It has characteristic hairy leaves and inflorescences, and is the type species of the genus Carex.
Description
Carex hirta grows {{convert|15|-|70|cm|0}} tall, with leaves {{convert|10|-|50|cm|abbr=on|0}} long and {{convert|2|-|5|mm|abbr=on|2}} (occasionally up to {{convert|8|mm|abbr=on|disp=or|1}}) wide.{{cite book |author1=A. C. Jermy |author2=D. A. Simpson |author3=M. J. Y. Foley |author4=M. S. Porter |year=2007 |title=Sedges of the British Isles |edition=3rd |series=BSBI Handbook No. 1 |isbn=978-0-901158-35-2 |publisher=Botanical Society of the British Isles |chapter=Carex hirta L. |pages=285–287}} The stems are trigonous (roughly triangular in cross-section), but with convex, rounded faces. The leaves, leaf sheaths and ligules are all hairy, although plants growing in wetter positions may be less hairy; these have sometimes been separated as C. hirta var. sublaevis by Jens Wilken Hornemann, but this may not be a worthwhile taxon. The culms bear 2–3 lateral female spikes, each {{convert|10|-|45|mm|abbr=on|1}} long, and on half-ensheathed peduncles up to twice the length of the spike. There are 2–3 male spikes at the end of the culm, each {{convert|10|-|30|mm|abbr=on|1}} long. The hairy utricles, male glumes and leaves make it hard to confuse Carex hirta with any other Carex species.
Distribution
Carex hirta is native to Europe, and is found across the British Isles, albeit with records becoming very scarce in the far north.{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwildflowers.com/Web_pages/carex_hirta_hairy_sedge.htm |title=Carex hirta hairy sedge |date=March 11, 2010 |accessdate=June 1, 2011 |author=Peter Llewellyn |work=Wild Flowers of the British Isles}} It has been introduced to North America.{{cite web |url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAHI10 |title=Carex hirta L. |work=PLANTS Profile |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |accessdate=June 1, 2011}} It was first recorded in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1877, and has since been found across much of the eastern United States and Canada.{{cite book |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357237 |chapter=372. Carex hirta Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 975. 1753 |series=Flora of North America |publisher=eFloras.org |title=Vol. 23. Cyperaceae |pages=473, 498, 500, 501}}
Nomenclature
Carex hirta is the type species of the genus Carex,{{cite journal |author1=Ilkka Kukkonen |author2=Heikki Toivonen |year=1988 |title=Taxonomy of wetland carices |journal=Aquatic Botany |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |pages=5–22 |doi=10.1016/0304-3770(88)90003-4 |editor=J. M. Bernard}} and therefore also of the subgenus Carex and the section Carex. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum, and the lectotype, from the herbarium of Adriaan van Royen, was designated by Ilkka Kukkonen in 1992.{{cite journal |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/research/projects/linnaean-typification/detail.dsml?ID=184800 |title=Carex hirta Linnaeus |journal=The Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project |publisher=Natural History Museum |accessdate=June 1, 2011 |date=October 9, 2006|doi=10.5519/qwv6u7j5 |author1=Natural History Museum }}{{cite journal |author=Subcommittee 3C |year=1992 |title=Seventy-two proposals for the conservation of types of selected Linnaean generic names, the report of Subcommittee 3C on the lectotypification of Linnaean generic names |journal=Taxon |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=552–583 |doi=10.2307/1222833 |jstor=1222833}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
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Category:Flora of Northern America