BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Carex lenticularis var. dolia | Kellog's Sedge 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Carex lenituclaris var. dolia is a perennial sedge that grows in dense,
low tufts from ascending rhizomes and forms clumps up to 10 inches (25
cm) in diameter.  Plants are 1 to 13 inches (2-34 cm) tall; aerial stems
are wider toward the base and narrower toward the tip.  Leaves of the
rhizome and the base of the aerial stem are reduced and scalelike,
somewhat leathery, brown, and without hair.  Flowering stems are usually
nodding or more often prostrate on the ground.  Dried leaves of the
previous year persist at the base of the plant.  The terminal
(gynecandrous) spike has both male (staminate) and female (pistillate)
flowers, the male only at the base (below the female).  The perigynia
(fruit) are ovate and have a very short beak.  The difference in
perigynium morphology distinguishes C. lenticularis var. dolia from the
occasional gynecandrous specimen of var. lipocarpa [10,22,23].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Carex lenituclaris var. dolia reproduces from seed and rhizomes [5].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Carex lenticularis var. dolia occurs in wet meadows and along lakeshores
at 4,930 to 9,965 feet (1,500-3,000 m) [22] and in shallow, wet, stony
soil around streams and seeps in the alpine zone at elevations of 6,700
to 8,000 feet (2,040-2,440 m) [23].  It has also been reported in wet,
boggy or mossy ground near or above timberline (6,500 to 8,000 feet
[1,980-2,438 m]) [14].

The Carex lenticularis var. dolia population in Glacier National Park
occurs along the peaty edge of a large pond in an alpine meadow at 7,300
feet (2,225 m).  When found in 1964, it comprised an extensive colony
along the edge of the pond, but by 1966 the colony had dwindled to a
fraction of its former size [10].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Carex lenticularis (probably C. l. var. lipocarpa) is described as a
pioneer species that invades water's edge in Utah [19].  In Carex
aquatilis habitat types of northwestern Montana, C. lenticularis, along
with C.  aquatilis, appears to function as a pioneer colonizer of
exposed mineral substrates, such as those created when a beaver dam
breaks, and will persist indefinately.  High water tables and a vigorous
network of C.  lenituclaris and C. aquatilis rhizomes limit the
successful establishment of most other species [3].
 


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Mature achenes are present from late August through mid-September [22].
Mature fruit are found in late July and August [14,23].

Related categories for Species: Carex lenticularis var. dolia | Kellog's Sedge