''Carex elongata'', the elongated sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...

, native to Europe, the Caucasus, western Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the

Altai Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China * Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China * Altay City (阿� ...

. It occurs in boggy woodland and wet meadows, where it forms dense tussocks up to about 1 m tall.

Description

Plants occur in dense tussocks about 1 m tall and 50 cm in diameter, owing to their short rhizomes and dense production of shoots. Each

trigonous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

stem is up to 80 cm long and rough with upward-pointing teeth on the edges. Leaves are up to 90 cm long and 5 mm wide, tapering to a fine point. The

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many Poaceae, grasses (Poaceae) and Cyperaceae, sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla ...

, which is important for identification, is 8 mm long and sharply pointed. The inflorescence consists of up to 18 golden-tinged spikes which are fairly tightly spaced at the top of the stem. Fruits (utricles) are 4 mm long, with dark ribs, and have 2 stigmas. The diploid chromosome number (2n) = 56. left, =Botanical illustration

Ecology

This is a plant of flooded woodland, in Britain it is typically found in W5

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

carr, which typically occurs in river valleys and old peat bogs. It is thought that the seeds germinate on dead wood, which floats on the surface of the water, and thereby avoids inundation at the vulnerable seedling stage. In England, it used to grow on the rotten pilings of old

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...

s, in similar conditions. It can also be found in W2 grey willow carr and W6 crack willow woodland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159480 elongata Flora of Northern Europe Flora of Central Europe Flora of France Flora of Italy Flora of Romania Flora of Yugoslavia Flora of Eastern Europe Flora of the Caucasus Flora of West Siberia Flora of Altai (region) Flora of Kazakhstan Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus