Carex riparia
Encyclopedia
Carex riparia, the greater pond sedge, is a species of sedge
found across Europe
and Asia
. It grows in a variety of wet habitat
s, and can be a dominant species in some swamp
s. It is Britain's largest Carex, growing up to 130 centimetre tall, with glaucous leaves up to 160 centimetre long. It hybridises with a number of other Carex species, including the closely related Carex acutiformis
– the lesser pond sedge. A variegated
cultivar
is grown as an ornamental grass
.
over Europe
and Western and Central Asia
, with isolated occurrences in North Africa
. It can form large stands along slow-flowing rivers, canals, on the edges of lakes, and in wet woodland. It may be the dominant species in swamp
s, especially if there is standing water in spring, and is also found in tall-herb fens, alongside Carex acutiformis
, Carex acuta
and other similar species.
by William Curtis
in his 1783 work Flora Londinensis
. It is easily confused with Carex acutiformis
, the lesser pond sedge, but can be told apart by its greater number of male spikes, which grow close together at the top of the culm.
The leaves
of C. riparia are up to 160 centimetres (63 in) long by 6–20 mm (0.236220472440945–0.78740157480315 ) wide, glaucous
, and narrowing at the tip to a trigonous point. The stems are 60 centimetre tall, rough, and sharply triangular in section, making C. riparia Britain's largest species of Carex. They bear 1–5 female spikes, each nearly cylindrical and generally overlapping with the next, and 3–6 more densely arranged male spikes. Each female spike is 3 centimetre long, often with some male flowers at the tip, while male spikes are 2–6 cm (0.78740157480315–2.4 ) long. The fruit
s of C. riparia are utricles, 5–8 mm (0.196850393700787–0.31496062992126 ) long, with an inflated ovoid shape. They taper to a distinct, bifid beak, which bears three stigmas
.
Carex riparia is known to hybridise with a number of other sedge species, including Carex acutiformis (forming Carex × sooi), C. lasiocarpa
(forming C. × evoluta), C. rostrata
(forming C. × beckmanniana), C. vesicaria
(forming C. × csomadensis), C. elata and C. flacca
.
'Variegata', is used as an ornamental grass
in gardens with wet soils.
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
found across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. It grows in a variety of wet habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s, and can be a dominant species in some swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s. It is Britain's largest Carex, growing up to 130 centimetre tall, with glaucous leaves up to 160 centimetre long. It hybridises with a number of other Carex species, including the closely related Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis, the lesser pond sedge, is a species of sedge.-Description:It grows up to tall, with leaves up to long and wide.-Ecology:...
– the lesser pond sedge. A variegated
Variegation
Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves, and sometimes the stems, of plants. This may be due to a number of causes...
cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
is grown as an ornamental grass
Ornamental grass
Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. They have become increasingly popular in gardens in recent years.-Classifications:...
.
Distribution and habitat
Carex riparia has a broad distributionRange (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
over Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Western and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, with isolated occurrences in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. It can form large stands along slow-flowing rivers, canals, on the edges of lakes, and in wet woodland. It may be the dominant species in swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, especially if there is standing water in spring, and is also found in tall-herb fens, alongside Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis, the lesser pond sedge, is a species of sedge.-Description:It grows up to tall, with leaves up to long and wide.-Ecology:...
, Carex acuta
Carex acuta
Carex acuta or Acute Sedge, Slender Tufted-sedge, Slim Sedge can be found growing on the margins of rivers and lakes in the Palaearctic terrestrial ecoregions in beds of wet, alkaline or slightly acid depressions with mineral soil....
and other similar species.
Description
Carex riparia was first describedAlpha taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...
by William Curtis
William Curtis
William Curtis was an English botanist and entomologist, who was born at Alton, Hampshire.Curtis began as an apothecary, before turning his attention to botany and other natural history. The publications he prepared effectively reached a wider audience than early works on the subject had intended...
in his 1783 work Flora Londinensis
Flora Londinensis
Flora Londinensis is a book that described the flora found in the London region of the mid 18th century. The Flora was published by William Curtis in six large volumes...
. It is easily confused with Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis
Carex acutiformis, the lesser pond sedge, is a species of sedge.-Description:It grows up to tall, with leaves up to long and wide.-Ecology:...
, the lesser pond sedge, but can be told apart by its greater number of male spikes, which grow close together at the top of the culm.
The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
of C. riparia are up to 160 centimetres (63 in) long by 6–20 mm (0.236220472440945–0.78740157480315 ) wide, glaucous
Glaucous
Glaucous is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull , Glaucous-winged Gull , Glaucous Macaw , and Glaucous...
, and narrowing at the tip to a trigonous point. The stems are 60 centimetre tall, rough, and sharply triangular in section, making C. riparia Britain's largest species of Carex. They bear 1–5 female spikes, each nearly cylindrical and generally overlapping with the next, and 3–6 more densely arranged male spikes. Each female spike is 3 centimetre long, often with some male flowers at the tip, while male spikes are 2–6 cm (0.78740157480315–2.4 ) long. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s of C. riparia are utricles, 5–8 mm (0.196850393700787–0.31496062992126 ) long, with an inflated ovoid shape. They taper to a distinct, bifid beak, which bears three stigmas
Stigma (botany)
The stigma is the receptive tip of a carpel, or of several fused carpels, in the gynoecium of a flower. The stigma receives pollen at pollination and it is on the stigma that the pollen grain germinates. The stigma is adapted to catch and trap pollen with various hairs, flaps, or sculpturings...
.
Carex riparia is known to hybridise with a number of other sedge species, including Carex acutiformis (forming Carex × sooi), C. lasiocarpa
Carex lasiocarpa
Carex lasiocarpa is a species of sedge known by the common names slender sedge and woollyfruit sedge.-Distribution:This is an aquatic or shore plant of wet areas in mountainous areas of moderate elevation. It is found across much of North America and Eurasia...
(forming C. × evoluta), C. rostrata
Carex rostrata
Carex rostrata, bottle sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic fens....
(forming C. × beckmanniana), C. vesicaria
Carex vesicaria
Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known by the common name Blister Sedge. The dried fibers, sometimes used as thermal insulation in polar regions, are known as sennegrass, saennegrass or similar, from the plant's Bokmål name Sennegras.-Distribution:This sedge is native to...
(forming C. × csomadensis), C. elata and C. flacca
Carex flacca
Carex flacca, with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, , is a species of sedge native to parts of Europe and North Africa....
.
Horticulture
Carex riparia, particularly the cultivarCultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
'Variegata', is used as an ornamental grass
Ornamental grass
Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. They have become increasingly popular in gardens in recent years.-Classifications:...
in gardens with wet soils.
External links
- Carex riparia on the Royal Horticultural SocietyRoyal Horticultural SocietyThe Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
's Plant Selector - Carex riparia, greater pond sedge, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Gardener's World - 356. Carex riparia Curtis, Fl. Londin. 4: t. 60. 1783., Flora of ChinaFlora of China (journal)Flora of China is a scientific publication aimed at describing the plants native to China.The is a collaborative scientific effort to publish the first modern English-language account of the approximately 31,000 species of vascular plants of China...