Carex acutata

Carex acutata (common name, slender-tufted sedge, slender-spiked sedge)^[2] is a species of sedge, a perennial flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae.^[1] It was first formally named by Francis Boott in 1846.^[3]

Carex acutata
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Cyperaceae
Genus:	Carex
Species:	C. acutata
Binomial name
Carex acutata Boott[1]
Synonyms
List Carex acutata var. ciliata Kük. Carex anwandteri Phil. Carex feminea Steud. ex Boott Carex foeminea Steud. Carex physocarpa Nees ex Boott Carex purpurea Boott Carex tessellata Spruce ex C.B.Clarke

Description

Carex acutata is a tuft-forming sedge, with clumps of slender, narrow leaves reaching up to 90cm in height. The inflorescence forms a series of spikes, with brownish flowers, appearing in late spring and summer.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

Carex acutata is native to South America.^[1] In Bolivia it occurs at elevations of 3,500–4,000 m (11,500–13,100 ft).^[4] It is distributed in mountainous habitats of the Tropical Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela.^[5]

Taxonomy

The name Carex tessellata was included in the Ecuadorian Red List as a “mysterious species known from a single collection of uncertain precedence”. The name was synonymised in 2020 to Carex acutata.^[5]