| Author | Naczi | |
| Distribution | Middle and lower Piedmont and outer Coastal Plain, with a gap between. The gap is probably real, due to a zone of acidic soils.
NJ to IN and MO, south to central GA, southern MS, and eastern TX. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon to fairly common in the eastern half of the Piedmont, but scarce in the southern lower Coastal Plain (areas underlain by marl). The website editors suggest a State Rank of S3S4. | |
| Habitat | Rich to mesic hardwoods and pine-hardwood forests, including upper margins of floodplains; soils are circumneutral to mildly acidic, but probably circumneutral toward the coast. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting mid April-June. | |
| Identification | Carex planispicata was described in 1999, split off from C. amphibola, which occurs in moister bottomland and floodplain habitats. Perigynia of C. planispicata are arranged distichously (vs. spirally in C. amphibola); this character is usually better seen on living plants than on specimens. The ligule of the leaflike bract of the uppermost female spike is shorter (0.7-3.8 mm vs. 3.4-7.8 mm in C. amphibola). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | At least a couple of specimens of Carex godfreyi from NC may actually belong here; additional study is needed.
The genus Carex is the largest in North America, and among the largest in the world. In temperate and boreal regions, Carex is often the dominant or co-dominant ground layer in many habitats. Seeds (achenes) are valuable food for birds and small mammals, while foliage is used by birds and mammals to make nests and as food by mammals. Species of Carex often look vastly different from one another -- spikes erect vs. drooping, tiny inflorescence vs. whopping, culms leafy vs. naked, perigynia beaked vs. beakless, stems densely bunched vs. single, etc. The genus has been divided into many sections (or groups), based on shared characters; some taxonomists have suggested that these be different genera, but that proves unworkable (so far). All Carex share the feature of a perigynium (an outer covering) which completely surrounds the achene (seed). This covering may fit tightly or loosely (like a small bladder), depending on which group or species. Details of perigynia shape, ornamentation, presence and size of beak, number of striations (or veins) are all important ID features. In recent years Rob Naczi and colleagues have stressed the importance of arrangement of perigynia -- whether spiral (3+ ranks) or distichous (2-ranked) -- and have named a number of new species as well as split off some older synonyms. Therefore, RAB's (1968) key, excellent for its time, can only be used in a general way today. Members of some sections of Carex are difficult to key out (notably Ovales, Laxiflorae, Griseae); this is in part due to variation among individuals of a species, or failings of the key. FNA has drawings of most species and some species may be found in two or more places within a key, to acount for variability. New species to NC, and new to science(!), continue to be found in NC. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Flat-spiked Gray Sedge | |
| State Rank | [S3S4] | |
| Global Rank | G4Q | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
