Records for Carex rostrata (Cyperaceae) in New England

2004·2 MB·English

by  A Haines

RHODORA,
Vol. 106, No. 927, 287-290, 2004
pp.
NEW
ENGLAND NOTE
RECORDS FOR CAREX ROSTRATA (CYPERACEAE)
NEW ENGLAND
IN
Arthur
Haines
MA
New Hemenway
England Wild Flower Society, 180 Rd., Framingham, 01701
[email protected];
e-mail:
Andrew Cutko
Maine Natural Areas Program, State House Station 93,
ME
04333
Aueusta,
Dan
Sperduto
New
Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau and The Nature Conservancy,
NH
Box Concord, 03302
P.O. 1856,
Carex Stokes circumboreal, hydrophytic sedge primarily
rostrata a
is
Canada North America. limited conterminous United
restricted to in Its
States distribution includes the Great Lakes region and northwestern
(Kartesz 1999; Reznicek and Ford 2002). Carex rostrata has
states
largely been treated as including C. utriculata Boott in Hook, by
Seymour
American authors. Fernald (1950) and (1982) provided
infraspecific names for these taxa; however, the characters used in
some
these and other treatments were inadequate to distinguish material.
New
As a result, many England collections were identified only to the
name
level of species (using the C. rostrata). This has created a situa-
name
tion in which the C. rostrata has been misapplied to collections
of C. utriculata. Further, C. rostrata has been summarily excluded from
New
England by works covering region (Gleason and
recent this
Cronquist 1991; Kartesz 1999), though no systematic herbarium surveys
have been performed to verify the presence or absence of this sedge in
the northeastern United States. This note presents the results of recent
field and herbarium surveys that have resulted in the discovery of four
New
England.
stations for C. rostrata in northern
morphology
Carex and
rostrata C. utriculata differ substantially in leaf
and anatomy (Reznicek and Ford 2002). However, some of the distinc-
tions can be obscured on dried herbarium specimens (e.g., leaf color,
on
leaf cross-sectional shape). Therefore, confident determinations rely
287
288 Rhodora
[Vol. 106
presence/absence of papillae and stomate distribution on the leaves,
features that require magnification to observe. These facts are likely, in
C
part, responsible for the absence of previous reports of true ro strata
New
As
in England. previously noted, C. rostrata was excluded from
New
England when became customary recognize narrow
to in the
it it
sense as separate from C. utriculata; Gleason and Cronquist 1991;
(i.e.,
Kartesz
1999).
New
The
confirmed Carex England was
first location for rostrata in
Mark Ward
discovered by the second author and during surveys of
field
J.
D. Irving property northern Maine. The sedge was located
in in
a backwater slough of the Big Black River, a tributary of the John
St.
T14 R WELS. The
River, in 6 section of the Big Black River that harbored
1
C. rostrata slow, tannic, and meandering with numerous oxbows
is
that demonstrate fairly distinct zones of vegetation reflecting the degree of
annual flooding. Carex rostrata occurred adjacent an open pool within
to
mixed graminoid-shrub marsh community.
a Associated plant species
included
C. stricta, C. utriculata, C. vesicaria, Sagittaria
latifolia, S.
cuneata, Scirpus atrocinctus, S. cyperinus, and Myrica gale.
WELS,
Specimen citation: Maine: Aroostook Co.. T14 R16 Bis Black River
u.s.a.
oxbows, backwater emergent marsh w/ Carex and
stricta. C. vesicaria. C. ntriculata.
Aug & Ward
Calamagrostis canadensis, 22 2002, A. Cutko M. (maine, mich).
s.n.
After learning of the discovery of Carex rostrata Maine, the
in
first
museums
author undertook herbarium surveys regional an
in in effort to
locate additional voucher specimens. This work was performed
as part
of the Herbarium Recovery Project, a two-year research project
New
administered by England Wild Flower examined
the Society
that
known
herbarium records of rare and/or poorly native tracheophytes
New New
England. Specimens from England
in northern labeled as
C. rostrata and C. utriculata were examined from gh, maine, nebc, nha,
As common New
and vt. C. utriculata a relatively sedge England,
is in
the herbarium surveys involved sorting through hundreds o( specimens.
—
Three collections of Carex rostrata were located two from Maine and
New
one from Hampshire. The were confirmed by Anton
identifications
Reznicek (University of Michigan).
Mud
Specimen citation: u.s.a. Maine: Aroostook Co., Ashland, Pond, 17 Jul 1935,
&
Chamberlain Delano S36 Aug
G. R. (nebc): Piscataquis Co. Spencer Pond, 1871,
New
Parlin s.n. (nebc). Hampshire: Coos Co., Pittsburg, Fourth Connecticut Lake, 9
Hodgdon
Jul 1966, A. 15005 (nha).
el at.
New
England Note 289
2004|
New
Upon notification of a confirmed record of Carex rostrata in
from
Hampshire, the third author reexamined sedge collections field
He
surveys he had performed in the northern part of the state. discovered
a potential specimen of C. rostrata from Fourth Connecticut Lake, the
of Hodgdon's collection 23 years earlier. The specimen was
site
who
examined by author agreed with the determination
the initial
first
that the collection was true C. rostrata). Neither of the historical
(i.e.,
Maine have been determine those populations
locations revisited to if
of C. rostrata are extant.
still
pond
Lake along
Fourth Connecticut high-elevation tarn the
a
is
Canadian border Pittsburg the source of the Connecticut River
in at
(elevation 814 m). Carex rostrata was associated with acid to circum-
and marshy emergent border vegetation surrounding the pond.
neutral fen
mud-bottom (pH 4.6-
The fen consisted of floating mat (pH 5.5-6.2) and
Sphagnum
dominated by dwarf shrubs, sedges, and mosses.
habitats
5.0)
Common Chamaedaphne Carex
tracheophytes included calyculata,
lasiocarpa, C. oligosperma, C. canescens, C. magellanica subsp. irrigua,
Triadenum virginicum, and Rhynchospora alba. Less frequent species
Menyanthes Rhododendron groenlandicum, Erio-
included
trifoliata,
phorum Drosera
virginicum, Utricularia cornuta, rotundifolia var.
Dulichium arundinaceum, Juncus pelocarpus, Sarracenia
rotundifolia,
Kalmia
purpurea, Carex Lysimachia and polifolia.
stricta, terrestris,
Marshy border areas contained Gentiana linearis, Eleocharis palustris,
Comarum Nuphar
palustre, variegata, and Sagittaria latifolia.
New
Specimen citation: Hampshire: Coos Co., Pittsburg, Fourth
u.s.a.
Connecticut Lake, 27 1989. D. Sperduto 151 (nha).
Jul
New
Carex rostrata appears to be rare and local in England, with the
of northern species of Carex the southern
sparse distribution typical at
known
However,
of range (Reznicek 1989). collections are
limit their
may
from relatively unspecialized habitats, suggesting this sedge be
narrow
discovered additional locations. Carex rostrata has relatively
in
mm
mostly than 4.5 wide with dense and minute papillae
leaves, less
20X
(view or higher magnification) on the adaxial surface of the leaf
at
blades. The stomata are usually found only on the adaxial surface (rarely
40-
some view
some scattered on the abaxial surface in individuals; at
50X Anton Reznicek, comm.). The leaf blades are
magnification; pers.
Carex
white-green adaxially and U-shaped cross-section. utriculata,
in
more
on other hand, marked by relatively wide leaves mostly than
the
is
mm
Rare
4.5 wide that are usually smooth on the adaxial surface.
290 Rhodora
[Vol. 106
specimens will have one or more leaves covered adaxially with
tiny
scabrules, which provide a rough texture to the leaf. The scabrules are
10X
easily visible magnification and are more sparsely distributed
at
Car
than the papillae of C. rostrata. ex utriculata further characterized
is
by flat or V-shaped, green leaves with stomates distributed only on the
abaxial surface.
New
acknowledgments. The
England Wild Flower
Society
is
thanked for permission to use data gathered during the Herbarium
Recovery Project. Garrett Crow, Kassandra Jahr, Anton Reznicek, and
Wood
Emily are thanked for their assistance with research. Thanks
this
also to Stephanie Neid and Ben Kimball for supplemental descriptive
information on Fourth Connecticut Lake.
LITERATURE
CITED
Fernald, M. Manual Von
L. 1950. Gray's of Botany, 8th ed. Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
New
York.
Gleason, and
H. A. A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern
New
United Slates and Adjacent Canada, 2nd ed. The York Botanical Garden,
NY.
Bronx,
A
Kartesz, Synonymized
J. T. 1999. Checklist and Atlas with Biological Attributes
for the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. ed.
1st
In: J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham, Synthesis of the North American
Flora, version North Carolina Botanical Garden. Chapel NC.
1.0. Hill,
New
Reznicek, A. A. 1989. England Carex (Cyperaceae): Taxonomic problems and
phytogeographical considerations. Rhodora 144-152.
91:
and
B. A. Ford. 2002. Carex section Vesicariae, 501-511. Flora
pp. In:
of North America Editorial Committee, eds.. Flora of North America North
of Mexico, Vol. Magnoliophyta: Commclinidae
23. Cyperaceae.
(in part):
New
Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford and York.
New
Seymour,
F. C. 1982. Flora of England, 2nd ed. Phytologia Memoirs V.
NJ.
Plainfield,