Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Carex capitata
Introductory
SPECIES: Carex capitata
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Walsh, Roberta A. 1994. Carex capitata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/carcap/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
CARCAP
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
CACA13
COMMON NAMES :
capitate sedge
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of capitate sedge is Carex
capitata L. [5,7,10]. It is in the family Cyperaceae. Carex capitata
f. arctogen (H. Smith) Hulten is a recognized form [12]
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Carex capitata
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Capitate sedge is circumboreal [10,11]. It extends south in the western
cordillera of North America to southern British Columbia and Alberta,
and sporadically at high elevations to Mexico and east to Montana,
Wyoming, and Colorado [5,10]. In the east, it occurs in the high
mountains from Quebec south to New Hampshire [5,18]. It also occurs in
southern South America [1,7].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AK CA CO ID MT NV NH OR UT WA
WY AB BC NF NT PQ YT MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
2 Cascade Mountains
4 Sierra Mountains
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K007 Red fir forest
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
SAF COVER TYPES :
207 Red fir
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Capitate sedge is listed as an indicator and dominant species in the
following published description of plant communities:
Vegetation patterns and environment of some alpine plant communities on
Lakeview Mountain, southern British Columbia [15]
Species associated with capitate sedge in the alpine zone of the eastern
Cascade Range in southern interior British Columbia include downy sedge
(Carex scirpoidea), snow cinquefoil (Potentilla nivea), slender
crazyweed (Oxytropis monticola), Lyall's goldenweed (Haplopappus
lyallii), golden fleabane (Erigeron aureus), and fairy-candelabra
(Androsace septentrionalis) [16].
Species associated with capitate sedge in the alpine zone of Mt. Baker,
Washington, in the North Cascade Range include false sedge (Carex
scirpoidea var. pseudoscirpoidea), alpine fescue (Festuca ovina var.
brevifolia), and Cascade willow (Salix cascadensis) [3].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Carex capitata
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Capitate sedge is listed as a native plant good for stabilizing or
restoring disturbed or degraded (including logged or burned) areas. It
is also recommended for erosion control [9].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Carex capitata
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Capitate sedge is a native, perennial, monoecious graminoid [8,10]. It
is loosely to densely caespitose [8,11]. Culms are 4 to 14 inches
(10-35 cm) tall [1,10]. Leaves are one to four per culm [8] and 0.02
inches (0.5 mm) wide or less [1,14,18]. The first foliage leaves arise
well above the base of the plant [10]. The inflorescence is a solitary
terminal spike [10] 0.16 to 0.39 inches (4-10 mm) long [8,14]. The
achene is 0.06 inches (1.5 mm) long [8]. The perigynia surrounding the
achene is ovate and 0.08 to 0.12 inches (2-3 mm) long [1,14]. There are
6 to 25 pergynia per spike [7,9]. Capitate sedge has short creeping
rhizomes [8] on which the culms are closely spaced [23].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Capitate sedge sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the culms
and from rhizomes [10]. It also reproduces by seed [8].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Capitate sedge is found in arctic and alpine environments [10] on marshy
meadows to dry alpine slopes [14,23]. It grows on acidic rocky,
gravelly [7], sandy [15], or peaty [5] soils.
In the alpine zone of the eastern Cascade Range in southern interior
British Columbia capitate sedge is dominant where the soil is strongly
acid (pH 4.9-5.3) and coarse textured, with loamy sand predominating
[15]. In the alpine zone of Mt. Baker, Washington, capitate sedge only
grew in the drier eastern region, on sites with the least snow
accumulation. However, the soils there remained moist well into summmer
because of drainage from upslope [3].
Capitate sedge is found at the following elevations:
Elevation (feet) Elevation (m)
AK 0- 3,281 0-1,000 [11]
CA 6,234-12,900 1,900-3,932 [9,14]
WA 7,546- 8,038 2,300-2,450 [3]
BC 2,402- 2,500 732- 762 [16]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Capitate sedge is dominant on some sites [15]. It is probably a climax
species in some places, but no specific information was found on its
successional status.
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Capitate sedge blooms from July 1 to August 30 in New England [18] and
from late June to August in adjacent Canada [5].
Capitate sedge showed little phenological variation due to aspect in the
alpine zone of the eastern Cascade Range in southern interior British
Columbia. Snow had melted from the site by the third week of June in
1980. Capitate sedge broke dormancy the last week of June and grew
vegetatively until the first week of July. At that time it began to
flower, and continued to do so until the second week of August (except
at one site, where flowering ended August 3). It set fruit until the
first week of September, and dispersed seed after that time [16].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Carex capitata
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Since capitate sedge can reproduce vegetatively [8,10], it probably
sprouts from rhizomes after aerial portions are burned. Where thick
tufts form, they may protect basal buds from fire-caused damage.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Tussock graminoid
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carex capitata
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Capitate sedge culms are probably killed by fire during the growing
season.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Vegetation regrowth after fire is very fast in low arctic tundra sedge
(Carex spp.) dominated communities [22]. Sedges increase in importance
following fire in these habitats [21].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Carex capitata
REFERENCES :
1. Anderson, J. P. 1959. Flora of Alaska and adjacent parts of Canada.
Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. 543 p. [9928]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Douglas, George W.; Bliss, L. C. 1977. Alpine and high subalpine plant
communities of the North Cascades Range, Washington and British
Columbia. Ecological Monographs. 47: 113-150. [9487]
4. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
5. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of
northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New
York Botanical Garden. 910 p. [20329]
8. Hermann, Frederick J. 1970. Manual of the Carices of the Rocky Mountains
and Colorado Basin. Agric. Handb. 374. Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service. 397 p. [1139]
9. Hickman, James C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of
California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1400 p.
[21992]
10. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
11. Hulten, Eric. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1008 p. [13403]
12. Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of
the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume
II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North
Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie
Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p. [6954]
13. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
14. Munz, Philip A. 1973. A California flora and supplement. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. 1905 p. [6155]
15. Ratcliffe, Marilyn J.; Turkington, Roy. 1987. Vegetation patterns and
environment of some alpine plant communities on Lakeview Mountain,
southern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Forestry. 65: 2507-2516.
[22661]
16. Ratcliffe, Marilyn J,; Turkington, Roy. 1989. Comparative phenology of
some alpine vascular plant species on Lakeview Mountain, southern
British Columbia. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 103(3): 348-352. [14876]
17. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
18. Seymour, Frank Conkling. 1982. The flora of New England. 2d ed.
Phytologia Memoirs 5. Plainfield, NJ: Harold N. Moldenke and Alma L.
Moldenke. 611 p. [7604]
19. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
20. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
21. Wein, R. W. 1974. Recovery of vegetation in arctic regions after
burning. Rep. 74-6. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Task Force on Northern Oil
Development. 41 p. [13001]
22. Wein, Ross W. 1975. Arctic tundra fires--ecological consequences. In:
Proceedings, circumpolar conference on northern ecology; [Date unknown];
[Location unknown]. [Place of publication unknown]: Canadian Resource
Council, National Science Committee, Committee on Problems of the
Environment: I-167 to I-174. On file with: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT. [12999]
23. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry
C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo,
UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
FEIS Home Page
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