Project Overview

The sedge genus (Carex L., family Cyperaceae) is one of the largest, most widespread, and ecologically important genera of vascular plants worldwide, and the largest genus of flowering plants in California (156 spp.). Despite the prominence of sedges in the California flora, comparatively little is known about the distribution, status, and ecology of many species. This is largely because of the difficulty of sedge identification due to the large number of species, their morphological similarity, and the minute characters by which they differ. We present a new diagnostic tool which harnesses the power of digital imagery to aid identification of sedge species in Marin County, California. This guide is intended to assist to plant specialists, conservationists and enthusiasts in sedge identification

Authors

Eric Wrubel

Eric Wrubel is a botanist for the San Francisco Bay Area Network of National Parks. He has an M.S. in Ecology and Systematics from San Francisco State University, and over twenty years of professional botanical experience throughout California. He is interested in patterns of plant diversity and vegetation dynamics, and has a peculiar fondness for sedges and other graminoids.

Timothy Jones

Tim Jones is a botanist with a passion for monocots. He has a PhD in Biology from Louisiana State University and has been working on computer-based identification of primarily plant biodiversity with a focus on Carex, for almost twenty years. Interests are lean code, better ontologies, and semantic markup. And don't worry, you can learn this group faster than he did.

References

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Ball P. W., Reznicek A. A. Vol. 23. Oxford University Press; New York: 2002. Flora of North America. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part); Cyperaceae. Vol. 23.608.

Brummitt, R. (2005). Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 57. Taxon, 54(4), 1093-1103. doi:10.2307/25065499

Howell, J.T, F. Almeda, W. Follette, C. Best. 1970. Marin flora. California Academy of Sciences and California Native Plant Society, Marin Chapter. San Francisco, CA.

Hurd, E. G., N. L. Shaw, J. Mastroguiseppe, L. C. Smithman, S. Goodrich. 1998. Field Guide to Intermountain Sedges. USDA General Technical Report RMSR-GTR-10. Rocky Mountain Research Station. Ogden, UT.

Mason, H. L. 1957. A flora of the marshes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Wilson, B. L., R. Brainerd, D. Lytjen. B. Newhouse, and N. Otting. 2008. Field Guide to the Sedges of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR.

Whitkus, R. 1988. Systematics and evolution of the Carex pachystachya complex (Cyperaceae). PhD dissertation. Ohio State University.