Cyperaceae taxon details
Carex flexirostris Reznicek
1677735 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1677735)
accepted
Species
terrestrial
Reznicek, A. A. (1986). The Taxonomy of <i>Carex</i> sect. <i>Hymenochlaenae</i> (Cyperaceae) in Mexico and Central America. <em>Systematic Botany.</em> 11(1): 56-87., available online at https://doi.org/10.2307/2418947
page(s): 75 [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 75 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Holotype MICH 1109081, geounit Oaxaca
Holotype MICH 1109081, geounit Oaxaca [details]
Description Plants cespitose, with short rhizomes; roots pale greyish brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms 35–80...
Description Plants cespitose, with short rhizomes; roots pale greyish brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms 35–80 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous or scabrous, purple, bladeless basal sheaths with stramineous veins. Leaves 4–7, mostly basal; blades 20–45 cm long, 1.5–3.9 mm wide, plicate, glabrous, the margins antrorsely scabrous on distal third, granular proximally, the widest leaves 3.5–3.9 mm wide; sheaths 5–13 cm long, tightly enveloping culms, hispidulous with red prickle-hairs, especially on lower sheaths, strongly purple-tinged near base; inner band of sheaths hispidulous with red prickle-hairs, densely purple-dotted, the apex deeply concave to “V”-shaped, thin and fragile; ligules 3–9.5 mm long, obtuse to acute, the free portion stramineous or red-dotted. Vegetative shoots 17–35 cm tall; leaves 5–6, similar to those on fertile culms; pseudoculms ca. 4.5–10.5 cm tall. Inflorescences 10–32 cm long, with the upper spikes overlapping and the lowest 2 spikes 4–18 cm distant; spikes single at nodes, with all but the upper pendulous on filiform, flexuous, scabrous peduncles; lowermost spikes with peduncles 3.8–14 cm long, the uppermost lateral spikes with peduncles 0.4–1.3 cm long; lowermost bracts with blades 6–18 cm long and 1–1.9 mm wide and sheaths 2.5–5.2 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced. Spikes 3–5, the terminal staminate or sometimes staminate proximally and distally and pistillate in the middle, the lateral androgynous. Terminal spikes 2.5–6.3 cm long, 1–2.5 mm wide, 30–60-flowered if staminate, otherwise the staminate portion 1–2.7 mm long and 9–18-flowered proximally, 1.4–2.3 mm long and 45–70-flowered distally; pistillate middle portion 0.3–1.7 mm long, 3.1–4.7 mm wide, 3–16-flowered; peduncles 3–11 mm long. Lateral spikes 2.4–7.6 cm long, occasionally compound, with secondary spikes single, androgynous, up to 1 cm long; staminate portion of lateral spikes 0.7–1.8 cm long, 20–45-flowered; pistillate portion of lateral spikes 1.6–6.3 cm long, 25–70-flowered. Pistillate scales 2.3–3.5 mm long, 1.4–1.8 mm wide, ovate, obtuse to acute or acuminate, sometimes with a ciliate awn up to 0.7(–1.3) mm long, stramineous to reddish purple with hyaline margins, 3-veined. Staminate scales 2.8–4.3 mm long, 1.5–2.2 mm wide, obovate, acute to acuminate, reddish brown with green center, 1-veined. Perigynia 2.8–3.7 mm long, 0.8–1.2 mm wide, ascending and outcurved, trigonous with flat, ovate sides, green, suffused with purple proximally, glabrous, sessile, 11–22-veined with 2 veins prominent and the rest faint, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.4–0.9 mm long, glabrous or sparsely scabrous, the apex hyaline and erose to obscurely bidentulate with teeth up to 0.2 mm long. Achene 1.8–2.1 mm long, 0.8–0.9 mm wide, trigonous with flat, obovate sides, tightly enveloped by the perigynium, pale brown, sessile. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, 1.5–2.4 mm long. [details]
Cyperaceae Working Group. (2025). [see How to cite]. Global Cyperaceae Database. Carex flexirostris Reznicek. Accessed at: https://cyperaceae.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1677735 on 2026-07-06
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Nomenclature
original description
Reznicek, A. A. (1986). The Taxonomy of <i>Carex</i> sect. <i>Hymenochlaenae</i> (Cyperaceae) in Mexico and Central America. <em>Systematic Botany.</em> 11(1): 56-87., available online at https://doi.org/10.2307/2418947
page(s): 75 [details] Available for editors [request]
page(s): 75 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Holotype MICH 1109081, geounit Oaxaca [details]
From editor or global species database
Additional information Carex flexirostris is known only from Oaxaca in moist, open pine and pine-oak forest at 2500-3000 m. Fruiting specimens have been collected in July and December. The epithet flexirostris, "curved-beaked," refers to the asymmetrical, somewhat outcurved perigynia characteristic of this species. [details]Comparison Carex flexirostris is very similar to C. perlonga. C. flexirostris differs from C. perlonga by its purple-tinged perigynia with short, +- outcurved beaks 0.4-0.9 mm long, its longer anthers, and its reddish brown staminate scales. [details]
Description Plants cespitose, with short rhizomes; roots pale greyish brown, not densely felted with root hairs; fertile culms 35–80 cm tall, trigonous, smooth, with glabrous or scabrous, purple, bladeless basal sheaths with stramineous veins. Leaves 4–7, mostly basal; blades 20–45 cm long, 1.5–3.9 mm wide, plicate, glabrous, the margins antrorsely scabrous on distal third, granular proximally, the widest leaves 3.5–3.9 mm wide; sheaths 5–13 cm long, tightly enveloping culms, hispidulous with red prickle-hairs, especially on lower sheaths, strongly purple-tinged near base; inner band of sheaths hispidulous with red prickle-hairs, densely purple-dotted, the apex deeply concave to “V”-shaped, thin and fragile; ligules 3–9.5 mm long, obtuse to acute, the free portion stramineous or red-dotted. Vegetative shoots 17–35 cm tall; leaves 5–6, similar to those on fertile culms; pseudoculms ca. 4.5–10.5 cm tall. Inflorescences 10–32 cm long, with the upper spikes overlapping and the lowest 2 spikes 4–18 cm distant; spikes single at nodes, with all but the upper pendulous on filiform, flexuous, scabrous peduncles; lowermost spikes with peduncles 3.8–14 cm long, the uppermost lateral spikes with peduncles 0.4–1.3 cm long; lowermost bracts with blades 6–18 cm long and 1–1.9 mm wide and sheaths 2.5–5.2 cm long, the uppermost bracts much reduced. Spikes 3–5, the terminal staminate or sometimes staminate proximally and distally and pistillate in the middle, the lateral androgynous. Terminal spikes 2.5–6.3 cm long, 1–2.5 mm wide, 30–60-flowered if staminate, otherwise the staminate portion 1–2.7 mm long and 9–18-flowered proximally, 1.4–2.3 mm long and 45–70-flowered distally; pistillate middle portion 0.3–1.7 mm long, 3.1–4.7 mm wide, 3–16-flowered; peduncles 3–11 mm long. Lateral spikes 2.4–7.6 cm long, occasionally compound, with secondary spikes single, androgynous, up to 1 cm long; staminate portion of lateral spikes 0.7–1.8 cm long, 20–45-flowered; pistillate portion of lateral spikes 1.6–6.3 cm long, 25–70-flowered. Pistillate scales 2.3–3.5 mm long, 1.4–1.8 mm wide, ovate, obtuse to acute or acuminate, sometimes with a ciliate awn up to 0.7(–1.3) mm long, stramineous to reddish purple with hyaline margins, 3-veined. Staminate scales 2.8–4.3 mm long, 1.5–2.2 mm wide, obovate, acute to acuminate, reddish brown with green center, 1-veined. Perigynia 2.8–3.7 mm long, 0.8–1.2 mm wide, ascending and outcurved, trigonous with flat, ovate sides, green, suffused with purple proximally, glabrous, sessile, 11–22-veined with 2 veins prominent and the rest faint, contracted into a beak; beaks 0.4–0.9 mm long, glabrous or sparsely scabrous, the apex hyaline and erose to obscurely bidentulate with teeth up to 0.2 mm long. Achene 1.8–2.1 mm long, 0.8–0.9 mm wide, trigonous with flat, obovate sides, tightly enveloped by the perigynium, pale brown, sessile. Styles withering; stigmas 3. Anthers 3, 1.5–2.4 mm long. [details]
