Carex tenax
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =
| status = G4
| status_system = TNC
| genus = Carex
| species = tenax
| range_map = Carex tenax range.jpg
| synonyms = *Carex chapmanii {{small|Sartwell ex Dewey}}
- Carex chapmanii {{small|Sartwell ex L.H.Bailey}}
- Carex dasycarpa var. tenax {{small|(Chapm. ex Dewey) Kük.}}
}}
Carex tenax, the wire sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to Texas and the southeastern United States.{{cite POWO |id=47252-2 |title=Carex tenax Chapm. ex Dewey |access-date=29 September 2022 }}{{cite journal |title=The Vascular Flora of the Chunky River (Mississippi) |last1=Majure |first1=Lucas C. |journal=Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas |year=2007 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=1179–1202 |jstor=41971547 }}
Description
It is a perennial plant that gets up to 20 inches. The roots are fibrous. The alternate leaves are linear and parallel. The leaves are covered with short hairs. The inflorescence is a spike. The fruit are achenes. The flowers are really small and hard to see.{{Cite web |title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin |url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CATE12 |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=www.wildflower.org}} The perigynia is ovoid or obovoid and the hairs are not longer than 0.2 mm. It flowers between later spring and early summer.{{Cite web |title=FNA: Carex tenax |url=https://nwwildflowers.com/compare/?t=Carex+tenax |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=nwwildflowers.com}}
==Distribution and habitat==
It is found in most of the counties in Western Florida including, Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington counties.{{Cite web |title=Carex tenax - Species Details |url=http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/plant.aspx?id=2463 |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=Atlas of Florida Plants}}
It has a global rank of G4, meaning apparently secure. It also has local state ranks, including, S1 in Texas and North Carolina meaning critically endangered, S2 in Alabama meaning endangered, S3 in Florida and Louisiana meaning imperiled, and S4 in Mississippi meaning apparently secure. Its population is in a decline of between 10-30%.{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.131815/Carex_tenax |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}}
Generally rare, it is found in the longleaf pine ecosystem.{{cite journal |last1=Sorrie |first1=Bruce A. |last2=Gray |first2=Janet Bracey |last3=Crutchfield |first3=Philip J. |year=2006 |title=The Vascular Flora of the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem of Fort Bragg and Weymouth Woods, North Carolina |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232694264 |journal=Castanea |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=129–161 |doi=10.2179/05-02.1 |s2cid=86469929 |access-date=29 September 2022}} It is commonly found in the elevations of between 0-1,000 feet. It is most commonly found in the sand habitat and the forest habitat.{{Cite web |title=Carex tenax {{!}} wire sedge |url=https://wildflowersearch.org/search?&tsn=39837 |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=wildflowersearch.org |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15580929}}
Category:Flora of Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Flora of South Carolina
Category:Flora of North Carolina
Category:Plants described in 1855
{{Carex-stub}}