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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Carex leptalea
bristle-stalked sedge

 
Scientific Name: Carex leptalea Wahlenb.
English Name: bristle-stalked sedge
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - 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.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vascular Plant
Species Code: CARELET
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Plantae Anthophyta Monocotyledoneae Cyperales Cyperaceae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (May 2016)
Provincial Status: S5 (Apr 2019)
BC List: Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2010)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Technical Description: Stems densely clustered on slender, freely branched rhizomes, very slender, 1.5-6 dm; leaves shorter than the stems, slender but more or less flat, 0.7-1.2 mm wide; spike 1, 0.5-1.5 cm, the terminal staminate part often short; pistillate scales obtuse to acute or short-awned, mostly shorter than the perigynia, or the lowest prolonged into a slender tip surpassing the perigynia; perigynia 1-10, 2.5-4.5 mm, appressed-ascending, often rather remote, membranaceous, elliptic or lance-elliptic, with a narrow, often substipitate, spongy base 0.5-1 mm, beakless, with 2 marginal nerves and many finer nerves on each face; achene trigonous, 1.3-1.8 mm, not filling the perigynium; rachilla wanting; 2n = 52. ssp. harperi has the perigynia up to 5 mm long. (Gleason & Cronquist 1991)
From CNHP Wetland Guide 2012: Habit: stems densely clustered from slender, freely branching rhizomes. Culms: triangular, slender, sometimes arching, 1.5-7 dm tall, exceeding the leaves, aphyllopodic.
Leaves: 2. Blades: flat, thin, soft and lax, deep green, 0.5-1.3 mm wide. Sheaths: membranous, brownish-tinged at maturity, concave at mouth. Bracts: None. Spikes: solitary, androgynous, narrow, few flowered, perigynia few, subalternate on rachis, appressed-ascending. Spikes are hardly wider than the top of culm. Pistillate Scales: ovate-orbicular, small, shorter than perigynia, deciduous. Perigynia: oval-elliptic, circular in cross section, spongy at base, often sub-stipate, pale green or yellowish green, 2.5-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide. Nerves: finely many-striate on both surfaces, marginal nerves present. Beaks: absent. Stigmas: 3
Diagnostic Characteristics: The only species in Section Polytrichoideae: Spike single, terminal, narrow, few-flowered, androgynous or all pistillate; stigmas 3, achene trigonous or round in cross-section, not filling the perigynium; rachilla absent; perigynium 5 mm or less, green, ascending, elliptic, beakless; lowest pistillate scales small, not foliaceous, mostly shorter than the perigynia; leaves numerous, slender, pale green. Fairly distinctive in overall appearance: pale green plant with very slender leaves, filiform stems, and small, single, terminal, androgynous spikes.
Similar Species:
Global Reproduction Comments: Staminate flowers above pistillate on the same spike. Cyperaceae are wind-pollinated with the exception of Dichromena. The inflated perigynium allows Carex seeds to float for long periods of time (2 days to over 12 months, depending on the species), and various species are also dispersed by ants, birds, and mammals (Ridley 1930).
Global Ecology Comments: Tolerances inferred from habitat.
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Typically in wet boreal forested areas. Spaghnum bogs, tamarack bogs, swamps (coniferous, mixed hardwood-conifer, and unspecified), moist to wet woods, wet meadows; often in calcareous places. Also listed from wet calcareous fens (Northwest Territories), shores (Alaska), stream banks (Indiana), damp areas at the base of cliffs or ledges (southeast, Missouri, Indiana). (Cronquist et al. 1977, Deam 1940, Fernald 1950, Gleason & Cronquist 1991, Godfrey & Wooten 1979, Hulten 1968, Porsild & Cody 1980, Radford et al. 1968, Steyermark 1963, Strausbaugh & Core 1978, Voss 1972)
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Elevation (m) (min / max): Provincial: 
Known Pests:
Pollen Vector: ABIOTIC
Wind
Pollinator:
Dispersal: ABIOTIC
Water
   
 
Provincial Inventory
Inventory Priority:
Ownership of occurrences (Known locations):
Inventory Need:
 
Economic Attributes
 
Distribution
Endemic:
Global Range Comment: Labrador to Alaska, south to central Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, northeastern Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and California. Not reported from Kansas and Nebraska. Carex leptalea ssp. harperi is found in the southeastern portion of the range, and C. leptalea ssp. pacifica occurs in British Columbia and southernmost Alaska. C. leptalea has the widest geographic range of any North America sedge (FNA 2002).
Disjunct, more common elsewhere: N
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: N
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: M.E. STOVER, TNC-HO
Last Updated: Mar 16, 1995
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
Last Literature Search:
   
References and Related Literature
Cronquist, A., A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren, J.L. Reveal, and P.K. Holmgren. 1977. Intermountain flora: vascular plants of the intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol. Six. Monocotyledons. Columbia Univ. Press, New York. 584 pp.
Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana. Division of Forestry, Dept. of Conservation, Indianapolis, Indiana. 1236 pp.
Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th edition. Corrected printing (1970). D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 1632 pp.
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.
Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Godfrey, R.K., and J.W. Wooten. 1979. Aquatic and wetland plants of southeastern United States: Monocotyledons. Univ. Georgia Press, Athens. 712 pp.
Hulten, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories. Stanford Univ. Press, Palo Alto, CA. 1008 pp.
Porsild, A.E., and W.J. Cody. 1980. Vascular plants of continental Northwest Territories, Canada. National Museum Natural Sciences, National Museums Canada, Ottawa. 667 pp.
Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
Ridley, H.N. 1930. The dispersal of plants throughout the world. L. Reeve & Co., Ltd., Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom. 744 pp.
Steyermark, J.A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames. 1728 pp.
Strausbaugh, P.D., and E.L. Core. 1978. Flora of West Virginia. Seneca Books, Inc., Grantsville, WV. 1079 pp.
Voss, E.G. 1972. Michigan flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part I. Gymnosperms and monocots. Cranbrook Institute of Science and Univ. Michigan Herbarium. Ann Arbor. 488 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1995. Species Summary: Carex leptalea. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).