Home/Species/ Grassy Slope Sedge

Carex oreocharis

Holm

Grassy Slope Sedge

G3Vulnerable Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

G3VulnerableGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.132242

Element CodePMCYP039S0

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassMonocotyledoneae

OrderCyperales

FamilyCyperaceae

GenusCarex

Other Common Names

grassyslope sedge (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Review Date1987-11-30

Change Date1988-06-30

Edition Date2000-09-27

Edition AuthorsNEIGHBOURS, M.L., rev. Spackman, S. and D. Anderson (2000)

Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences6 - 20

Rank Reasons

Number of occurrences and local abundance. What little information that is available leads one to believe that there are more occurrences than the eleven documented by RM collections.

Range Extent Comments

Regional endemic of the southern Rocky Mountains from southeastern Wyoming to northern Arizona (Hermann 1970). From Steve Olson (USFS Pike San Isabel) 2012: The general range of Carex oreocharis extends from southeastern Wyoming to Coahuila, Mexico. Occurrences are centered in the Colorado Front Range and South Park on the Tertiary pediment of the eastern Rocky Mountains (Schweich 2000).

Occurrences Comments

Data from herbarium collections at RM.

Threat Impact Comments

Some grazing reported on Pole Mountain, Albany County, Wyoming.

Ecology & Habitat

Description

Carex oreocharis is a perennial, herbaceous graminoid (grass-like) plant. It grows in cespitose clumps up to 1m (3 feet) in diameter (Schweich 2000). Leaves are 1.5 to 2mm (0.06 to 0.08 inch) wide, and are usually somewhat folded lengthwise (FNA 2002). The flowering culms (stems) are up to 50cm (19.7 inches) tall, typically exceeding the leaves. The culms are stout and are scabrous just below the inflorescence and will have two or three leaves (Schweich 2000). Each culm supports a single inflorescence at its tip. The staminate part of the inflorescence is above the female part (androgynous). The lowest pistilate scale is awned. Scales are described as golden-brown or straw colored and have whitish margins (FNA 2002). There are from 3 to 15 pistilate flowers in each flowering spike (Schweich 2000), although others suggest 20 to 100 flowers (Johnston 2001). The mature fruits (perigynia) are ovate in shape, 3 to 4.5mm (0.1 to 0.2 inch) long and 1 to 2mm (0.04 to 0.08 inch) wide, with a beak about 1mm (0.04 inch) long. These are puberulent.

Diagnostic Characteristics

From Steve Olson (USFS Pike San Isabel) 2012: The few-flowered, straw-colored spikes and the stiff, springy culms are characteristic of the species (Schweich 2000).

Habitat

Dry slopes and grassland hills in granitic soils, montane and subalpine.

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN3

Province	Rank	Native
Wyoming	S2	Yes
Arizona	SNR	Yes
Colorado	S3	Yes
New Mexico	SNR	Yes

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (1)

New Mexico (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Ryan Hill	Cibola National Forest	34,201

References (4)

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2002b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 23. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Cyperaceae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiv + 608 pp.
Hermann, Frederick J. 1970. Manual of the Carices of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Basin. Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 397 pages.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Weber, W.A. and R. C. Wittmann. 2006. Colorado Flora Western Slope. Third Edition. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, CO.