Description

Potentially Misidentified Species - At least 20 native species of Carex have been reported from tidal waters of the Bay (Brown and Brown 1984; Krauss et al. 1971; Sipple 1978; Wass 1972).

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus
Plantae	Magnoliophyta	Liliopsida	Cyperales	Cyperaceae	Carex

Synonyms

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record	Population	Range	Introduction	Residency	Source Region	Native Region	Vectors
1948	Unknown	Unknown	Introduced	Regular Resident	Europe	Eurasia	Shipping(Dry Ballast), Agriculture(Agricultural Weed)

History of Spread

Carex distans (Distant Sedge) is native to south Britain (Stace 1992); and all of Europe except the northeast and extreme north (Tutin et al. 1980). It was reported from 'the Carolinas' by Walter (1788), but given the difficulty of the genus, the validity of this record is uncertain, unless herbarium specimens are available. An herbarium specimen was collected on dry ballast piles at Philadelphia in 1865 (Rhoads and Klein 1993); Torrey Botanical Club 1888), but there were no further North American records until Hotchkiss (1951) found this plant at one site along the Potomac in Charles County MD in 1948, and reported it as 'common' at that location. Plants of Carex distans in MD were identified by E. Nelmes, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, U.K. (Hotchkiss 1951) The collection site, near the north end of the Rte. 301 bridge (Hotchkiss 1951) is now heavily developed (Paul Fofonoff, personal observation). No further records were found for the Chesapeake Bay region or elsewhere in North America (e.g. Brown and Brown 1984; Fernald 1950; Gleason 1963; Gleason and Cronquist 1991; Harvill et al. 1986; Harvill et al. 1992; Krauss et al. 1971; Sipple 1978; Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998; Wass 1972).

History References - Brown and Brown 1984; Fernald 1950; Harvill et al. 1986; Harvill et al. 1992; Hotchkiss 1951; Krauss et al. 1971; Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998; Sipple 1978; Stace 1992; Torrey Botanical Club 1888; Tutin et al. 1980; Walter 1788; Wass 1972

Invasion Comments

Likely Vector into Chesapeake Bay - C. distans is not cultivated, or an agricultural or garden weed, to our knowledge, so dry ballast is a possible vector. However, the site of the Chesapeake collection was far from any major seaport, and the time of collection was long after the widespread use of dry ballast. Bird or current dispersal from established populations is possible, but no other North American populations were known at the time of the 1948 collection (Hotchkiss 1951).

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

	For Survival		For Reproduction
	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
Temperature (ºC)
Salinity (‰)	0.0
Oxygen
pH
	Salinity Range	meso-poly

Age and Growth

	Male	Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)	250.0	250.0
Typical Adult Size (mm)	625.0	625.0
Maximum Adult Size (mm)	1000.0	1000.0
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

	Start	Peak	End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Carex distans (Distant Sedge) is of uncertain establishment in Chesapeake Bay and has no known economic impacts.

Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Carex distans (Distant Sedge) is of uncertain establishment in North America and has no known economic impacts.

Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

Carex distans (Distant Sedge) is of uncertain establishment in Chesapeake Bay and has no known impacts on native biota.

Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

Carex distans (Distant Sedge) is of uncertain establishment in Chesapeake Bay and has no known impacts on exotic biota.

References

Bronger, Cees; Haugen, Hans Aksel (1983) Vipestarr (Carex extensa Good.) i Norge, Blyttia 41: 143-148

Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.

Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.

Gleason, Henry A. (1963) The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.

Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.

Harvill, A. M., Jr.; Bradley, T. R.; Stevens, C. E.; Weiboldt, T.F.; Ware, D.E.; Ogle, D. W. (1986) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Farmville, VA. Pp.

Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.

Hotchkiss, Neil (1951) Range extensions of marsh and aquatic plants. 2., Rhodora 53: 91-93

Kartesz, John T. (1994) A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland., In: (Eds.) . , Portland OR. Pp.

Krauss, R.W.; Brown, R. G.; Rappleye, R. D.; Owens, A. B.; Shearer, C.; Hsiao, E.; Reveal, J. (1971) Checklist of plant species occurring within the hightide limits of the Chesapeake Bay, and its tributaries., , College Park, Maryland. Pp.

1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse

Resource Management Inc. (1993) National list of plant species that occur in wetlands., , Minneapolis.. Pp.

Rhoads, Ann Fowler; Klein, William McKinley, Jr. (1993) The Plants of Pennsylvania, , Philadelphia. Pp.

Simmons, Mark P.; Ware, Donna M.; Hayden, W. John (1995) The vascular flora of the Potomac River watershed of King George County, Virginia, Castanea 60: 179-209

Sipple, William S. (1978) An atlas of vascular plant distribution species for tidewater Maryland, , Annapolis, Maryland. Pp.

Stace, C. (1992) New Flora of British Isles, , Cambrdge, UK. Pp.

Torrey Botanical Club (1888) Preliminary catalog of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta, reported as growing spontaneously within one hundred miles of New York City., , New York. Pp.

Tutin, T. G.; Heywood, V. H.; Burges, N.A.; Valentine, D. H.; Walters, S. M.; Webb, D. A. (1964) Flora Europea, , Cambridge UK. Pp.

Walter, Thomas (1788) Flora Caroliniana, , London. Pp.