Carex alba | |
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Habit | |
Botanical illustration | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Cyperaceae |
Genus: | Carex |
Species: | C. alba |
Binomial name | |
Carex alba Scop. | |
Synonyms | |
List |
Carex alba, called the small white sedge, white-flowered sedge or just white sedge (a name it shares with other members of its genus), is a species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is typically found in temperate forests of Eurasia, from the Pyrenees to the Russian Far East. It is the main host plant for the woodland brown butterfly, Lopinga achine.
Description
Carex alba is a species of sedge, typically growing in thick clumps between 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) in height. Stems are slender, trigonous, smooth; with sheaths that are leafless at the base. Leaves are shorter than the stem, and flat-bladed. Bracts are greenish-brown and sheathlike. Flowers take the form of terminal spikes, and are white in colour. Nutlets are dark brown, obovate-elliptic, trigonous. Flowers and fruits in June to July.
Distribution and habitat
Carex alba favours dry, wooded areas, temperate pine forests and slopes.
References
- ^ "Carex alba". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- "Carex alba (CRXAA)". EPPO Global Database. European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- Streitberger, Merle; Hermann, Gabriel; Kraus, Wolfgang; Fartmann, Thomas (2012). "Modern forest management and the decline of the Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine) in Central Europe". Forest Ecology and Management. 269: 239–248. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.028.
- "Carex alba Scop". The World Flora Online. October 30, 2024.
- "Carex alba". www.hessenhof.nl. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
- "Laîche blanche". INPN - Nature France. November 2, 2024.
Taxon identifiers | |
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Carex alba |
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- Carex
- Flora of Spain
- Flora of France
- Flora of Middle Europe
- Flora of Italy
- Flora of Yugoslavia
- Flora of Romania
- Flora of Ukraine
- Flora of the Caucasus
- Flora of North European Russia
- Flora of South European Russia
- Flora of East European Russia
- Flora of West Siberia
- Flora of Altai (region)
- Flora of Kazakhstan
- Flora of Kyrgyzstan
- Flora of Xinjiang
- Flora of Mongolia
- Flora of Khabarovsk Krai
- Plants described in 1771
- Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli