DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Carex eburnea
Carex eburnea Boot
Ebony Sedge
- State Rank: S1
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Endangered
Habitat: Calcareous ledges, gravels or sands. [Rocky summits and outcrops (non-forested, upland); Non-tidal rivershore (non-forested, seasonally wet)]
Range: New Brunswick to Alberta, south to Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Aids to Identification: Carex is a large and difficult genus, and technical characters must be relied upon to separate the species. Carex eburnea has very narrow leaves (up to 0.5 mm), small perigynia (1-2 mm long), and white or white-brown carpellate scales. Carex eburnea is a short (less than 50 cm), fragile sedge that grows from creeping runners (stolons). Its stems and leaves are thin and wiry, and its small (less than 1 cm) spikelets are differentiated among 2-4 pistillate (female) spikelet and one staminate (male) spikelet. The perigynia are blackish and shiny and have whitish scales (bract-like coverings).
Ecological characteristics: In Maine, this sedge is known from calcareous cliffs and rivershore ledges.
Phenology: Flowers May - July.
Family: Cyperaceae
Synonyms: None noted.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 2 town(s) in the following county(ies): Aroostook, Oxford.
Reason(s) for rarity: Habitat naturally scarce in Maine.
Conservation considerations: Unknown.