Carex stricta
Stiff sedge ( Carex elata ), Bulte
The stiff sedge ( Carex elata ), also referred to as Stiff Sedge, belongs to the family of the Sedge family ( Cyperaceae ). In siltation zones of lakes and slow -flowing streams this Seggenart often falls by its stately, storied nests built on ( Bulte or Bülte ). As a deep-rooting it contributes to the siltation of water bodies.
Distribution and location
The Stiff Sedge is to spread to middle mountain areas in Europe with the exception of the far north, in North Africa and parts of Asia from the plane. It grows in moist and wet meadows, bogs intermediate in siltation zones of standing and slowly flowing waters on waterlogged, nutrient - and base-rich clay and silt soils. Often it forms Einartbestände called Stiff harrows Riede ( Caricetum Elatae ).
The French name of stiffeners sedge, carex le grand, was eponymous for the largest wetland area in Switzerland, the Grande Caricaie.
Subspecies
After Govaerts (2004), two subspecies are distinguished: the Broad- Stiff sedge ( Carex elata elata subsp. ) And the smaller Narrow Stiff sedge ( Carex elata subsp omskiana ( Meinsh. ) Jalas. ). The latter was detected only in recent times since 1997 for Germany (Berlin / Brandenburg) and may have been overlooked so far. The subspecies differ mainly in the plant height, the width of the leaves, the shape of the husk and the shape of the papillae of the leaf undersides.
Features
The marsh plants ( helophytes ) are perennial and summer green. The renewal buds from which the herbaceous plants sprout in early spring, are close to the surface ( hemicryptophytes ). The plant height of plants amount to between 60 and 120 centimeters in the subspecies C. elata subsp. elata and 30 to 80 centimeters in Carex elata subsp. omskiana. They form without foothills dense turf to stately, storied built nests ( Bulte ). The stiff upright stems are sharply triangular top and rough around the edges. You are leafy only at the base. The lowest, net-like fraying leaf sheaths are light yellow brown. The flat, gray-green leaf blades of broadleaf sedge stiffeners reach 4-7 millimeters, that of the narrow-leaved sedge strips 2 to 5 millimeters wide. They are very rough around the edges. The leaf surfaces are grass to dark green; the undersides of leaves, however, are gray-green. The papillae are elongated triangular in broad-leaved subspecies and stand out clearly from the epidermis. In the narrow-leaved subspecies these are rounded and weakly triangular.
The flowering period extends from April to May The lowest husk of the inflorescence is usually subulate and most as long as this. The inflorescence consists of three to six, sometimes seven, seated until shortly stalked, erect ears. The upper one to three ears of corn have male, the lower densely standing female florets. The male blossoms have three stamens, the female a zweinarbigen ovary. The protracted, five -to seven- annoying ( Carex elata subsp. Elata ) or indistinct annoyed ( Carex elata subsp. Omskiana ) Fruit hoses are oval, strongly flattened and gray-green. They are 3.5 to 5 mm in length and about 2 mm wide. The yellow-brown fruit is lens-shaped and about 2 millimeters long and 1.5 millimeters wide. The glumes are keeled black - brown and green. You can reach 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters in length. The tips are in C. elata subsp. elata rounded in C. elata subsp. omskiana mind getting sharpened considerably.
Ecology
The stiffness is a siltation sedge plant. The sharp blade edge serves as a protection against being eaten by animals.
The utriculi subject to the floating diffusion; their swimming time may be about 15 months. In addition, a Velcro spread and a Adhäsionsausbreitung carried by water birds.
Use
The Stiff Sedge is a good plant litter, but poor food plant.