View source for Carex tomentosa

{{italic title}}
{{taxobox
| name = Downey-fruited sedge
| image = Carex tomentosa eF.jpg
| status =
| status_system =
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
| unranked_classis = [[Commelinids]]
| ordo = [[Poales]]
| familia = [[Cyperaceae]]
| genus = '''''Carex'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carl von Linné]]
| species = '''''C. tomentosa'''''
| binomial = ''Carex tomentosa''
| binomial_authority = L.
| synonyms_ref=
| synonyms=
}}

'''''Carex tomentosa''''', the '''downey-fruited sedge''', is dispersed throughout Central Europe in scattered groups and is a rarely found member of the Cyperaceae family.

==Description==

''Carex tomentosa'' is a perennial [[Herbaceous plant]] that reaches heights from about 20 to 40&nbsp;cm and has long [[stolon]]s. The stiff, upright triangular [[Plant stem|stem]] is rough and hairy and the top and has a blackish red sheath at its base. The [[leaf|stem leaves]] are grey-green, at most 2&nbsp;mm wide and equipped with triangular tips.

The lowest [[bract]] has foliage-like development and dominates the spikelets. At last it often projects itself horizontally. Most of these plants own up to two 0.5 to 1.5 long female spikelets and a terminal male spikelet. These are short stalked and are somewhat removed from the rest of the plant. The fruiting spikelets have white and brown spots. The [[husk]]s are pointed, red to light-brown colored and have a green middle nerve. The fruit tubes are 1.5 to 2&nbsp;mm long, with a grey-brown color, spherically ovulate, and have a hairty, felt-like surface.

They predominantly bloom in May and June.

The [[Chromosome|chromosome count]] is 2n = 48.<ref name="Oberdorfer2001" />

==Ocurrence==
''Carex tomentosa'' comes from southern Scandinavia and England to northern Italy, the Balkans and western Siberia. It is a temperate-continental flora. In Austria the species is has a scattered occurrence, while it is generally spread in Switzerland. ''Carex tomentosa'' appears in Germany only in the middle and southern areas. It is absent from northern Germany, as it is also in the uplands and in the [[Alps]] in large areas.<ref name="Aichele 2000" />

It populates alternately wet meadows, garden edges and light, somewhat moist deciduous forests.<ref name="Aichele 2000" /> It rises up in the Alps at elevations which are barely above 1500 m.<ref name="Aichele 2000" /> The downey-fruited sedge needs dry summers, but moist winters and springs, loamy or clayey, lime or calcareous nitrogen-poor soil in not too shaded areas.<ref name="Aichele 2000" />

''Carex tomentosa'' withstands fertilization poorly and it is has disappeared from many grasslands. In moist, wet meadows it came to a population of 1900 in central Europe.<ref name="Aichele 2000" />

==Species protection==
Risk in Germany: Category 3: '''endangered'''

==References==
<references>
<ref name="Oberdorfer2001">Pflanzensoziologische Exkursionsflora für Deutschland und angrenzende Gebiete
Erich Oberdorfer - Ulmer - 2001</ref>
<ref name="Aichele 2000">Die Blütenpflanzen Mitteleuropas
Dietmar Aichele - Franckh-Kosmos - 2000</ref>
</references>

==External links==
{{Commons|Carex filiformis}}
* [http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/cypera/carex/kartor/caretomv.jpg Verbreitung auf der Nordhalbkugel] aus: Eric Hultén, Magnus Fries: ''Atlas of North European vascular plants.'' 1986, ISBN 3-87429-263-0 bei [http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/cypera/carex/caretom.html ''Den virtuella floran.''] (schwed.).

Images:
* http://www.guenther-blaich.de/pflseite.php?par=Carex+tomentosa
* http://www.gerhard.nitter.de/Steckbriefe/Carex-tomentosa.html

[[Category:Carex|tomentosa]]
[[Category:Flora of Central Europe]]