Carex alba explained

Carex alba, called the small white sedge, white-flowered sedge or just white sedge (a name it shares with other members of its genus), is a species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae.[1] It is typically found in temperate forests of Eurasia, from the Pyrenees to the Russian Far East.[2] It is the main host plant for the woodland brown butterfly, Lopinga achine.[3]

Description

Carex alba is a species of sedge, typically growing in thick clumps between in height. Stems are slender, trigonous, smooth; with sheaths that are leafless at the base. Leaves are shorter than the stem, and flat-bladed. Bracts are greenish-brown and sheathlike. Flowers take the form of terminal spikes, and are white in colour. Nutlets are dark brown, obovate-elliptic, trigonous. Flowers and fruits in June to July.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Carex alba favours dry, wooded areas,[5] temperate pine forests and slopes.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Carex alba (CRXAA) . . 2022 . EPPO Global Database . European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization . 3 February 2022 .
  2. 30265209-2 . Carex alba . 30 October 2024.
  3. Modern forest management and the decline of the Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine) in Central Europe . 2012 . Streitberger . Merle . Hermann . Gabriel . Kraus . Wolfgang . Fartmann . Thomas . Forest Ecology and Management . 269 . 239–248 . 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.028 .
  4. Web site: October 30, 2024 . Carex alba Scop. . The World Flora Online.
  5. Web site: Carex alba . 2024-11-02 . www.hessenhof.nl.
  6. Web site: November 2, 2024 . Laîche blanche . INPN - Nature France.