The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Carex appressa

Etymology

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

Common Name(s)

southern cutty grass, tussock sedge

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 appressa R.Br.

Family

Cyperaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

CARAPP

Structural Class

Sedges

Synonyms

Carex appressa R.Br. var. appressa; Carex paniculata L. var. appressa (R.Br.) Cheeseman

Distribution

Indigenous. North Island (Cook Strait region only), South Island (scattered, more common in the southern regions), Stewart, Chatham, Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands. Also New Caledonia, Australia and New Guinea. Naturalised around Auckland City.

Habitat

Mostly coastal, extending to montane in the subantarctic islands. Preferring open situations, usually on the margins of peat bogs or peaty, slow-flowing streams.

Features

Stout, rhizomatous sedge, forming robust, harsh and rigid, dark green tussocks. Culms 0.2–1.4 m tall, 3.0–6.5 mm wide, acutely trigonous, angles prominently scabrid above; basal sheaths shining, light to dark grey-brown, rarely purple-brown. Leaves usually > culms, 3–7 mm wide, channelled, stiffly erect, immature leaves with pungent apices, margins and keel very scabrid. Inflorescence an erect, elongated, mostly compact, stiff panicle 60–250 x 10–30 mm, usually interrupted below, branchlets us. < 35 mm long, more crowded above, appressed to inflorescence axis. Spikes 5–6 mm long, red-brown, ovoid, androgynous, male flowers terminal. Glumes slightly < utricles, ovate, acute, often furnished with a short scabrid mucro, brown with lighter brown midrib. Utricles c.2.5–3.5 x 1.5 mm, plano-convex, conspicuously many-nerved, dark brown; tapered to a beak 1.0–1.5 mm long, margins distinctly toothed, orifice bifid; sharply constricted to a narrow stipe 2–4 mm. long. Stigmas 2. Nut c.1.5 mm. long, plano-convex, oblong-obovoid, light or dark brown.

Similar Taxa

Carex appressa most closely resembles C. virgata Sol. ex Boott, especially as the inflorescence of both species is a stiffly erect contracted panicle, further, both species have similar distinctly nerved utricles. However, C. virgata has more slender culms, narrower leaves and paler brown, less dense-flowered panicles. In C. appressa the utricles are > 2.5 mm long while those of C. virgata are < 2.5 mm long.

Flowering

September - December

Fruiting

December - June

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and by the division of whole plants. Will tolerate most conditions but does best in full sun in a permanently damp soil. Rather variable and some horticultural selection is warranted. The typical form with stiffly erect, densely compacted inflorescences is perhaps the most attractive.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 60-62

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Nuts surrounded by inflated utricles are dispersed by granivory and wind (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 18 Jun 2015