The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Carex megalepis

Etymology

Carex: Latin name for a species of sedge, now applied to the whole group.

Common Name(s)

Bastard grass, Cavers beard

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Carex megalepis K.A.Ford

Family

Cyperaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

UNCFER

Structural Class

Sedges

Synonyms

Uncinia ferruginea Boott; Uncinia nigra Col.; Uncinia variegata Col.; Uncinia australis Pers. var. ferruginea (Boott) C.B.Clarke; Uncinia uncinata (Linn.f.) Kük. var. ferruginea (Boott) Kük.

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: North, South and Stewart Islands. From northern Waikato south.

Habitat

Coastal to montane forest, especially in the west. Often abundant in forest overlying calcareous rocks.

Features

Robust, yellow-green to dark green caespitose plants. Culms 100-600 × c.1 mm, glabrous; basal bracts dull brown to reddish brown. Leaves 4-8 per culm, = or > culms, 3-5 mm wide, scabrid on the margins. Spikes 70-160 × 6-10 mm, usually bracteate, female flowers c.60-100, very closely crowded throughout the whole spike, internodes 0.5-4.0 mm long. Glumes twice as long as utricles, deciduous, linear-subulate, acute or obtuse, coriaceous, dark golden yellow or rust-coloured. Utricles 4.0-5.0 × c.1.5 mm., plano-convex or rarely subtrigonous, dark brown, shining, nerved towards the base with a more strongly marked lateral nerve, sharply contracted below to a stipe 1 mm long and above to a stout beak 1.5-2.0 mm long.

Similar Taxa

Most similar to Carex corynoidea and C. uncinata, species with which it sometimes grows. Of both species it is most closely allied to C. corynoideaa from which it differs by the conspicuous dark golden yellow or rust-coloured rather than yellowish to dark brown glumes which are twice as long as the utricles (rather than equal or slightly greater in length), and by the scarcely spreading rather than widely spreading utricles. Carex uncinata differs by the usually narrower spikes, early deciduous rather than long-persistent deciduous glumes, which are usually much shorter than the utricles, and mostly < 1.0 mm diameter (cf. 1.5 mm or greater)

Flowering

October - December

Fruiting

November - May

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and by the division of established plants (though these may then take a while to settle). Does best in a permanently damp, semi-shaded site. Benefits from regular applications of lime. Should be planted where the seed heads are well out of the way of human and animal traffic!

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 88

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 14 Nov 2016