525.000 Carex L.

Description of the genus

Perennial herbs. Culms triangular or rarely rounded. Leaves with prominent long leaf sheaths. Inflorescence usually composed of several cylindric spikes but (in spicato-paniculata) consisting of 1-2 pyramidal panicles arising from upper leaf sheaths. Flowers unisexual, in unisexual or bisexual spikes. In this genus, in addition to the normal glume subtending the flower, the female flowers are enclosed within a utricle, which is beaked above and broad below and hence shaped something like a bottle. Ovary with 2-3 stigmas protruding from the beak at the tip of the utricle. Male flowers with usually 3 stamens.

Comment: The exact occurrence of species in this genus is as yet unknown and the list is incomplete. Some of the species are listed solely on the basis of Malawi being cited in the distribution of the species in Flora of Tropical East Africa.

Worldwide: c. 2000 species, cosmopolitan but mainly in temperate cold regions

Malawi: 12 taxa.

No image yet

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
aethiopica SchkuhrN
brassii Nelmes[End]N,S
chlorosaccus C.B.ClarkeNDescription, Image
conferta A. Rich.N
congolensis TurrillN
cyrtosaccus C.B. ClarkeS
echinochloe Kunze subsp. nyasensis (C.B.Clarke) Lye
lycurus K. Schum.
macrophyllidion NelmesDescription, Image
petitiana A. Rich.NDescription, Image
spicato-paniculata C.B.ClarkeDescription, Image
steudneri Boeck.S (other?)

Other sources of information about Carex:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Carex
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Carex
Flora of Mozambique: Carex
Flora of Zambia: Carex
Flora of Zimbabwe: Carex

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Carex
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Carex
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Carex
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Carex
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Carex
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Carex
JSTOR Plant Science: Carex
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Carex
Plants of the World Online: Carex
Tropicos: Carex
Wikipedia: Carex

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Carex.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=293, retrieved 19 March 2024

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