Cyperaceae
Carex

Carex elgonensis Nelmes

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1938: 245 (1938)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Tropical Africa (Mt. Elgon). It is a perennial or rhizomatous geophyte and grows primarily in the montane tropical biome.

Descriptions

Cyperaceae, K Hoenselaar, B. Verdcourt & H. Beentje. Hypolytrum, D Simpson. Fuirena, M Muasya. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2010

Type
Type: Kenya, Mt Elgon, G. Taylor 3474 (BM!, holo.; K!, fragment)
Morphology General Habit
Rather slender perennial forming small tussocks 0.4–1.2 m tall with a creeping rhizome
Morphology Leaves
Leaf blades up to 50 cm long, 3–6 mm wide, flat or plicate with scabrid margins Leaf sheaths brown to purple.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences of 4–6 erect or pendulous very dark blackish brown spikes arising singly from the leaf sheaths, the upper part ± sessile, the lower with peduncles 3–5 cm long. Spike 1.5–4.5 cm long, 3–10 mm wide, the terminal one entirely male or with a few female spikelets at the base, the lower ones female
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes dark blackish or reddish brown often with a very narrow obscure yellow keel but frequently entirely black, ovate-lanceolate, 5–7 mm long usually with excurrent midrib
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Utricle green turning brown or blackish and sometimes with dense dark purple speckling at maturity, (3.5–)4–6(–7) mm long including (0.7–)1–2 mm long beak, scabrid at the margins and strongly divaricate-toothed.
Ecology
Afro-alpine swamps and riversides in Hagenia-Hypericum and heath zones, margins of bamboo forest; 2400–3650 m
Note
Haines & Lye state perhaps not specifically distinct from C. mildbraediana and Nelmes compared his species with this, but the distinctly divaricately toothed utricle beak is different from that of C. mildbraediana, a few utricles from the type of which are preserved at Kew. In T 7 there are specimens which could be referred to C. petitiana or C. elgonensis, varying in spike colour. Some of these e.g. Wingfield 530, Kitulo Plateau, just left of Igoma–Kitulo road 1 km beyond Kikondo, 31 Dec. 1969, have the glumes spreading much longer than the utricle (4.5–8 mm) more obvious than in the Kenya material.
Distribution
Range: Not known elsewhere Flora districts: U2 K3 K4 T 7 (see note)
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: low confidence
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0