Carex porrecta explained

Carex porrecta is a plant species known from Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. It is found in humid forests at elevations of 1600-.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

The epithet porrecta refers to the prolonged, outcurved beak on the perigynia, a distinctive feature of the species. Carex porrecta is an herb spreading by means of underground rhizomes. Stems are triangular in cross-section, up to 125 cm tall. Leaves are mostly basal, up to 60 cm long. One stem can produce as many as 14 flowering panicles, some at the ends of the stems, others in the axils of the leaves. Flowers are grouped into spikes in the panicles, each spike with both pistillate (female) and staminate (male) flowers. Female flowers are surrounded by perigynia up to 6 mm long, each with a beak at the end up to 3 mm long. Achenes are triangular in cross section, up to 2.5 mm long, often with a distinctive indentation on each side.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez. (eds.) 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador, Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75: i–viii, 1–1181.
2. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40576061#page/3/mode/1up Funk, V. A., P. E. Berry, S. Alexander, T. H. Hollowell & C. L. Kelloff. 2007. Checklist of the Plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 55: 1–584
3. Gómez-Laurito, J. 2003. Cyperaceae. In: Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica, B.E. Hammel, M.H. Grayum, C. Herrera & N. Zamora (eds.). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 92: 458–551.
4. Hokche, O., P. E. Berry & O. Huber. (eds.) 2008. Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela 1–860. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela, Caracas.
5. Reznicek, A. A. & K. Camelbeke . 1996 . Carex porrecta (Cyperaceae), a distinctive new species from northern South America and Costa Rica . . 6 . 4 . 423–425 . 10.2307/3392052 . 3392052 .
6. Web site: Field Museum Amostras de Herbário da Neotrópica . 2014-02-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140301022850/http://fm1.fieldmuseum.org/vrrc/?page=view&id=60248&PHPSESSID=b85 . 2014-03-01 . dead .