| Cyperaceae |
|---|
Carex distans L. |
Carex L. |
| C. distans L., Syst. ed. 10,2:1263(1759). Syn: C. sinai Boott in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 20:146 (1851)! C. sinaica Nees in Steudel, Syn. Pl. Glum. 2:223 (1855) nom. superfl.; C. fulva sensu Boiss., Fl. Or. 5:426 (1884) p.p. non Good. (1794); C, armena Boiss., loc. cit. (1884) nom. nud.! Ic: Fl. RPR 11: t. 151 f. 2 (1966); Hess et al., Fl. Schweiz 1:485 (1967); Jermy & Tutin, Brit. Sedges 65 (1968). Stems 25-75(-90) cm, subterete to bluntly trigonous, rigid, ± smooth; basal sheaths mid- to dark brown, somtimes tinged red, entire, some aphyllous. Leaves (1.6-)2.5-5.5 mm broad, shorter than stems, often only half as long, ± flat, rigid, mid-, dull or greyish-green; ligule 2-3 mm, with opposite, acute or rounded sheath-projection to 6 mm. Male spike usually solitary, sub cylindrical to narrowly clavate, 1.5-5.5 cm, usually long-pedunculate. Female spikes 2-4, oblong-cylindrical, (0.8-)1.2-2.8(-3.2) cm, ± erect, all usually distant, lower pedunculate to 4 cm; lowest bract longer than spike but shorter than inflor-escence, scabrid-margined, sheath to 3 cm. Female glumes ovate, obtuse to acute, usually mucronate, pale mid-green to red-brown with greenish mid-vein. Utricles pale greenish-brown or sometimes yellowish-brown or dark reddish-brown, often purplish-spotted, broadly ovoid, (2.2-)3.5-4.6 mm, ascending, rather dull, ± distinctly veined, abruptly tapering into an often scabrid, shortly to deeply bifid beak to 1 mm. Saline meadows, damp places, marshy fields, by ditches, coniferous and deciduous forests, waste places, also in shallow water, s.I.-2150 m. Described from Europe (Hb. Linn. 1100/70, photo!). Widespread. A1(E) Tekirdağ: N. of ,Ganos Da., 2 km S. of Işikli, Bauer et al. 2208! A1(A) Çanakkale: Yalova, Bauer et al. 2209! A2(E) Istanbul: Çat-alca to Subaşı, A. Baytop (ISTE 28166)! A2(A) Istanbul: Pendik, Tuzla to AydinliDe., 28 iv 1895, Azn.! A3 Bolu: 26 km W. of Gerede, 1100 m, Sorger 71-64-10! A4 Ankara: Lalahan, 1040 m, Kasapligil 432! A5 Çorum: 25 km S.W. of Çorum on road from Samsun to Ankara, 830 m, Kukkonen8191! A8 Gümüşane: nr Baibout (Bayburt), 20 vi 1862, Bourgeau (as C. armena)\ A9 Kars: Kuyucuk G., N.W. of Başgedikler station, 1800 m, Sorger 81-50-6! Bl Izmir: Kemalpaşa, Parsa Ovacik, 770 m, Leblebici & Seçmen 2803! B2 Küt-ahya: d. Gediz, Murat Da., Kesik Söğüt, 1600 m, Çirpici (ISTF 32492)! B3 Eskişehir: 15 km from Eskişehir to Kütahya, 950 m, Leblebici & Seçmen 3440! B4 Ankara: Beynam, 1150 m, D. 13037! B5 Yozgat: 20 km N. of Himmet-dede, 1200 m, Coode & Jones 1473(c)! B6 Sivas: Pinarbaşi, 1300 m, Stn. & Hend. 5159(c)! B7 Erzincan: Kemaliye, 1400 m, Hub.-Mor. 11641! Tunceli: above Pülümür, 1900 m, D. 30996(b)! B8 Erzurum: 15 km from Erzurum to Pasinler, 1950 m, D. 47464! B9 Bitlis: Bitlis valley, 6 km below Bitlis, 1400 m, Frödin 1939:60! Bl0 Kars: Aralik (Aras valley), 810 m, D. 43644(c)! C2 Burdur: Yeşilova, Çorak G., 1050 m, Leblebici & Bekat 3530! C3 Isparta: Gönen, nr Manastir, 1300 m, Doğan 74! C4 Konya: Harase, Birand & M. Zohary 3509! C5 Içel: 5 km E.N.E. of Mersin, 2 m, It. Leyd. 1959:1049! C6 Hatay: Antakya, Narlica, T. Baytop (ISTE 16453)! C8 Siirt: Beşiri to Kurtalan, 500 m, D. 42957! C9 Hakkari: 5 km from Hakkari to Kaval (Piyan-nis), 1900 m, D. 45437! C10 Hakkari: 30 km from Başkale to Hakkari, 1900 m, D. 44674(b)! Is: Lesvos, N. slopes of mt. Olympos, 3-4 km N.W. of Ayias-sos, 350 m, Edmondson & McClintock 2382! Khios, Pelinaion mts. at road from Kampia to Spartunta, 420 m, Buttler 79-741! Ikaria, 2 km E. or E.S.E. of Mesaria, 300 m, Runem. & Snog. 6858(a)! Samos, valley W. of Leka, 200-400 m, Runem. & Snog. 19413! ibid., Runem.& Snog. 18885(a)! Kos, around Marmari, 3 m, Buttler 18259! Rodhos, Salakos, 200 m, Bothmer 22816(a)! Most of Europe (except northernmost areas), S. Russia, Crimea, N., N.W., W. & C. Iran, N. Iraq, W. Syria, Syrian Desert, Cyprus, Sinai, Arabia, N. Africa. Euro-Sib, element. C. distans is extremely variable in Turkey and adjacent areas; the limits between it and some of its allies are unsharp, probably because of introgression. The treatment given here is broad and traditional and must be regarded as provisional, pending a thorough study of the species and its allies. The variation of the species is presented below in order to draw attention to it. Deviating Turkish forms of C. distans have been misunderstood and named as, e.g., C. laevigata Sm., C. binervis Sm. and C. hostiana DC. (C. fulva auct., C. hornschuchiana Hoppe). None of these species has been found amongst the material studied. In E. Anatolia, within the area of C. diluta, introgression to C. distans seems to occur. Morphological intermediates are met with and the limits between the two species are diffuse. The following collections have been inter-preted as the putative hybrid C. diluta x distans: A4 Ankara: Çubuk Su (An-kara to Ravli), D. 21428! A5 Amasya: Kirazlidere, M. Tanker (ISTE 4572)! B6 Maraş,: Koyunoluk Da. to Delihübek Da. (Maraş to Göksun), 1000 m, D. 27522! B7 Erzincan: 48 km from Erzincan to Sivas, M. Tanker (ISTE 5629)! B9 Bitlis: 25 km S.E. of Pervari, 2000 m, Frödin 1936:242! C7 Urfa: Hilvan to Siverek, 700 m, D. 28259! E. side of Euphrates towards Hilvan, 500 m, Sorger 80-28-4! C9 Hakkari: 96 km from Hakkari to Van, 2120 m, Birand & Karamanoğlu 447! In E. Anatolia transitional forms towards C. cilicica also seem to occur (see note under that species). A specimen from C2 Muğla: Marmaris to Muğla, 5 km from Marmaris, Dudley (D. 36586)! approaches C. laevigata Sm. in having a ligule to 4.5 mm, sharply trigonous stems, and comparatively broad leaves; however, in other characters it is similar to (and treated as) C. distans. C. laevigata has recently been found in three localities in Greece. Among the deviating form-groups or populations of C. distans, the following have been regarded as noteworthy (the collections are indicated in the above citations by the letters a, b or c in parentheses). No attempt has been made here to delimit any formal subspecific taxa: Group a. Characterised by slender growth; small utricles (2.2-3 mm), weakly veined with often smooth beak; small female spikes 8-16 mm, often with some aborted flowers; narrow leaves, 1.6-2.4 mm broad. This variant occurs onlyin the E. Aegean Islands, being the only one present on Rodhos. Its many deviating characters and well-defined distributional area suggest a subspecific' taxon. However, in some characters it also seems transitional to C. cretica. It corresponds to C. distans f. minor Post, Fl. Syria 834 (1896). Rech. 4293 (Ikaria, Hagios Kirykos!) is noteworthy in having very dark male spikes and female glumes that to some extent are similar to those of C. troodii Turrill, a species endemic "to Cyprus that is closely related to C. distans. Group b. Characterised by tall growth, longer spikes and larger but narrower utricles. It seems to be identical to a taxon called C. sinai Boott (C. sinaica Nees). This seems to be a form of minor taxonomic significance. Group c. Characterised by densely caespitose habit, stems almost smooth; short leaves often less than 1/3 x stem and 1.8-2.8 mm broad; female spikes often only in upper 1/3 of stem, 1-1.4 mm, dense, all ± sessile; bracts setaceous, short; utricles c. 3 mm with short scabrid beak. This group corresponds to a taxon called C. armena Boiss. (nom. nud.) which has previously been regarded as conspecific with C. hostiana (= C. fulva). In Turkey, this taxon occurs in the drier parts of Inner Anatolia, often in areas where transitional forms be-tween C. diluta and C. distans occur, and might perhaps be of hybrid origin. Hybrids with C. extensa are discussed under the latter species. Two related taxa, C. aspratilis V.Krecz.and C. karelinii Meinsh., have been treated by some Russian authors as separate species (V. Kreczetovicz in Fl. URSS 3:395 & 398, 1935) or as subspecies of C. distans (Egorova, Fl. Part. Europ. URSS 2:176, 1976). Chater (Fl. Europaea 5:308, 1980) included both in C. diluta. His treatment has been followed here; neither of these taxa has been reported from Turkey. |