Carex illegitima Ces.

Family: Cyperaceae

General Appearance

Carex illegitima Ces., it is a perennial rhizomatous geophyte, erect creeping and lignified. Stems, up to 20-40 cm long forming dense tufts, erect, slender, triquetrous, scabrous towards the top faces. Leaves longer than the stems, 2-3 mm wide, plane or often canaliculate, scabrous towards the margins. Inferior sheaths without limbs, brown to blackish in colour, resolving into fine fibrilles. Superior sheaths greenish or reddish-brown. Inflorescence 2-5 androgynous spikelets, or in a part male,1-2 inferior basiliates with very long, unequal, scabrous peduncles. 2-3 superiors contiguous and sub sessile, multi-flowered, loose, bracts of the superior spikelets foliaceous. setaceous and that of the inferiors longer than the inflorescence; rachis little flexuous and compressed. wingless at the male parts. Male glumes ovate lanceolate, browns deep marked, keeled, acute or mucronate, very closely hyalinous towards the margins, densely imbricate, 1-nerved. Stamens 3, anthers linear, reddish brown c. 2.75 mm, with papillose apicule. Female glumes oval, blackish brown. 1-nerved, green keeled, ± very narrowly hyalinous towards the margins, obtuse or acute, glabrous, only scabrous on the mucro.  Utricle greenish, long, usually longer than the glume. erect, sub coriaceous, oblong, trigonous, c. 7 mm long, glabrous with 2 lateral projecting nerves, spongy, tapering at the top and long stipulate at the base; the beak very short, sometimes little recurved with brown-black orifice. Achene, oval-oblong, acute narrowly enclosed, olive-yellow, very fine dotted with hard enlarging, not stipulate, 5-6 x 2 mm. Style hardly erect, cone-like at the base, with thickening, persistent towards the achene but without separate constriction, short above the swelling part. Stigmas 3, long, reddish-brown; rachis prolonging within the utricle in a linear, 1-nerved acuminate scale, nearly reaching the achene top.

Flowering in: Mar- Apr.

Life Form

G

Phytochoria

MED. The native range of this species is Sicilia (Pantelleria), W. Balkan Peninsula, Gavdhos, W. Türkiye, E. Aegean Islands, Cyprus.

Distribution in Libya

Al-Jabal Al-Akhder:  Above side in high plateau, Wadi Wardama, littorales Derna 1939  Wadi El-Hussaien, Ras El-Hilal, Shahat, 1967  Wadi (Valley) Stowah region 2007

First: Encyclopedia Flora of Libyan:

Jafri, S.M.H. & El-Gadi, A. (1985) Flora of Libya, Cyperaceae Vol.  (120) Department of Botany, Al-Faateh Univ., Tripoli, Libya. Page. 3.

Second: Researches and PhD theses, master theses, Sorted by Newest:

Nawras, A. M. B. (2007) A study of the vegetation cover in the Wadi (Valley) Stowah region. Master Thesis. Botany Department-Faculty of Science-Garyounis University-Libya. (In Arabic)

 

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