Family |
Cyperaceae
Carex divulsa
Stokes
Carex divulsa Stokes
≡ Carex muricata var. divulsa (Stokes) Syme
(First published in W. Withering, Bot. Arr. Brit. Pl. ed. 2, 2: 1035, 1787; treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 176; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial with creeping rhizome, producing sterile shoots and fertile stems in dense tufts. Stems 25–80 cm, erect, triquetrous with one face flat.
• Leaves: Up to 30 cm long; sheath simply truncate (not notched as in C. pairaei, not prolonged as in C. contigua). Ligule oval, slightly longer than wide. Blades striate, scabrid on margins.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Initially very loose, with distant groups of spikelets, becoming continuous at maturity except near the base. Spikelets ovate, spreading-erect. Glumes pale brown or whitish, acuminate, keeled green. Utricles longer than glumes, ovate, attenuate into a fairly long bifid beak, margins slightly scabrid. Style with 2 exserted stigmas.
• Fruits: Ovate achene.
• Phenology: March–June.
• Habitat & elevation: Grassy ditches, roadsides.
• Lebanese distribution: Saïda, Nahr Beyrouth, Nahr el-Kelb, Batroun, Qoubba, Ras Chekka, Qalmoun, Tripoli, Bikfaya, Dik el-Mahdi, Ghazir, Beit Méri, Ghosta–Dlepta, Ras Chekka–Hamat, Ta‘naïl.
• Syrian distribution: Slenfé, Bassit, Kessab, under Mount Cassius.
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Corsica, Czechia–Slovakia, East Aegean Islands, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Crete, Krym, Lebanon–Syria, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, NW Balkan Peninsula, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sicily, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Ukraine (POWO).
• Introduced into: Argentina (Northeast), District of Columbia, New Zealand (North Island), Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tasmania, Victoria (POWO).