Carex sylvatica
{{Short description|Species of grass-like plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Carex sylvatica.jpg
|taxon = Carex sylvatica
|authority = Huds.
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Carex sylvatica is a species of sedge found in deciduous woodlands across Europe. It typically reaches {{convert|60|cm|abbr=on}} tall, and has an inflorescence made up of 3–5 pendent female spikes and a single male spike. It is also used as a garden plant, and has been introduced to North America and New Zealand.
Description
Carex sylvatica "resembles a small C. pendula",{{cite book |author1=Michael King |author2=Piet Oudolf |year=1998 |title=Gardening with Grasses |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=9780711212022 |page=124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sIWitbvyDoC&pg=PA124}} growing to around {{convert|15|-|60|cm|0}} tall, or up to {{convert|150|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} in exceptional cases.{{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 sylvatica Huds. |pages=334–336}} Its rhizomes are very short, giving the plant a densely cespitose (tufted) form. The leaves are {{convert|5|-|60|cm|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|3|-|7|mm|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|1.0|-|1.3|mm|2|abbr=on}} thick, with 17–31 parallel veins. The leaves have a slight keel, or are folded gently into an M-shape in cross-section.
The top half or third of the stem bears the inflorescence, typically comprising 3–5 female spikes and a single apical male spike, which may include a few female flowers at its base. The female spikes are each {{convert|2.0|-|6.5|cm|1|abbr=on}} long, and are held dangling on long, rough peduncles, arising from within a long leaf-sheath. The male spike is much thinner, and is {{convert|1|-|4|cm|1|abbr=on}} long.
Taxonomy
Carex sylvatica was first described by the English botanist William Hudson in his 1762 work Flora Anglica.{{cite book |author=William Hudson |author-link=William Hudson (botanist) |year=1762 |title=Flora Anglica |language=Latin |chapter=Carex |pages=346–354 |publisher=Londini, impensis auctoris |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/gulielmihudsoni01hudsgoog#page/n374/mode/2up}} Hybrids have been reported between C. sylvatica and C. strigosa (in France) and between C. sylvatica and C. hirta (in Austria). Its English common name is "wood-sedge", or, in North America, "European woodland sedge".
Distribution and ecology
Carex sylvatica is found across Europe, and into parts of Asia, as far east as Iran.{{cite web|url=http://zoo-bclark01.zoo.ox.ac.uk/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:231389 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706204025/http://zoo-bclark01.zoo.ox.ac.uk/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:231389 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 6, 2013 |title=Carex sylvatica |work=eMonocot |accessdate=May 11, 2013 }} It has also been introduced to North America, where it occurs in Ontario, New York and North Carolina, and to New Zealand,{{cite book |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357574 |chapter=Carex sylvatica Hudson, Fl. Angl. 353. 1762 |series=Flora of North America North of Mexico |volume=23 |title=Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Cyperaceae |author1=Joy Mastrogiuseppe |author2=Paul E. Rothrock |author3=A. C. Dibble |author4=A. A. Reznicek |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-515207-4}} where it was first recorded in 1969.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=3619 |title=Carex sylvatica |work=Flora |publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |accessdate=May 11, 2013}}
In its native range, C. sylvatica lives in deciduous woodlands on heavy soils; it is sometimes found in unwooded areas, but usually only as a relic of ancient woodland. In North America, it is generally found in disturbed areas within deciduous woodland.
Uses
Carex sylvatica can be used in gardens as ground cover under trees or shrubs. Carl Linnaeus recorded that the Sami people used the plant as an insulating wadding.{{cite book |author=James Sowerby |author-link=James Sowerby |year=1802 |title=English botany |location=London |publisher=J. Davis |volume=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEEPAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA995}}
References
{{Reflist|32em}}
External links
- Marek Nowicki, Radosław Walkowiak, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331312577_Carex_sylvatica_Pieniny_National_Park_Slovakia_CTC_2019 Carex sylvatica], Pieniny National Park (Slovakia), CTC, 2019
- {{Commons category-inline|Carex sylvatica|Carex sylvatica}}
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Category:Plants described in 1762