Deer's Hair Sedge. Summary. Protection Threatened in New York State, not listed federally.

Transcription

1 Deer's Hair Sedge Scientific Name Family Name Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum Cyperaceae Sedge Family Did you know? The species name cespitosum means tufted, and refers to the dense tussocks that this plant makes. This is the most common graminoid in New York's alpine ecosystem, and gives the meadows their distinctive "grassy" appearance. It turns a beautiful golden color in the fall. Summary Protection Threatened in New York State, not listed federally. Rarity G5, S2 This level of state protection means: listed species are those with: 1) 6 to fewer than 20 extant sites, or 2) 1,000 to fewer than 3,000 individuals, or 3) restricted to not less than 4 or more than 7 U.S.G.S. 7 ½ minute topographical maps, or 4) listed as threatened by U.S. Department of Interior. A global rarity rank of G5 means: This species is demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery. A state rarity rank of S2 means: This plant is threatened/imperiled in New York because of rarity (typically 6-20 populations or few remaining individuals) or is vulnerable to extirpation from New York due to biological factors. Conservation Status in New York There are currently 20 known populations. There are also two populations which have not been seen in over twenty years, but additional survey work is needed to determine their status. All but one of the known extant populations occurs in the high peaks region of the Adirondacks. The other extant population is disjunct in a fen in western New York. Almost all of the populations in the Adirondacks are threatened by trampling by hiker traffic but many are quite large. NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum)

2 Short-term Trends Trampling by hiker traffic is threatening at least some of the populations, but it is unclear if this impact is leading to a decline in the sizes of populations. Fourteen of the 20 known extant populations were first documented since It is unlikely that these represent new populations; rather they were probably overlooked in the past. Some populations are quite large, but overall, short-term trends are unclear. Long-term Trends Two populations from western New York are only known from historical records. The exact locations of these populations is not clear, but they are from towns that have had a lot of human impact. Further investigations and survey work are needed to determine the status of these populations. Fourteen of the 20 known extant populations were first documented since It is unlikely that these represent new populations; rather they were probably overlooked in the past. No populations are known to have become extirpated in the past 100+ years. Overall, long-term trends are unclear but do not indicate a rapid decline. Conservation and Management Threats Trampling by hiker traffic threatens at least parts of most of the populations. At least parts of the only known extant population in western New York are potentially threatened by Phragmites australis ssp. australis. Management to remove this non-native Phragmites has been implemented at this site. Conservation Strategies and Management Practices The Summit Steward program which works to inform hikers of the fragile nature of alpine plants is a critical program which is helping to reduce trampling of alpine vegetation. This program and other efforts designed to reduce trampling of alpine meadows are needed. Continued control of Phragmites australis ssp. australis at the one western New York population is needed. Research Needs Research to help determine the location of the two historical populations from western New York should be conducted. Follow up survey work to these populations is needed to determine if they are still extant. A few of the known extant populations need to be surveyed to better assess their condition. Habitat In New York, this taxon primarily grows in alpine regions of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks. In this area it is found in open alpine meadows, adjacent to krummholz, occasionally on exposed rocky ledges below the alpine zone, and in acidic peat bogs. It is also disjunct in western New York in very rich peat fens including marl fens (New York Natural Heritage Program 2007). Open, wet, rocky or peaty meadows, fens, bogs, shores (Crins 2002). Bogs, alpine areas (Haines and Vining 1998). Tundra, alpine mats, and acid bogs (Gleason and Cronquist 1991). Forming extensive turf NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 2

3 on tundra, acid bogs and peat. Calcareous gravels, shores, and cliffs for var. delicatulus (Fernald 1970). Associated Ecological Communities Alpine Meadow A very low-growing community similar in many ways to arctic tundra. Alpine meadows occur above timberline on the higher mountain summits and exposed ridges of the Adirondacks. Dwarf shrublands, small grassy meadows, small boggy depressions, and exposed bedrock with lichens and mosses are all commonly found within this broadly classified community. Marl Fen A wetland that occurs on a bed of marl. Marl is a whitish substance that is deposited from water that has a lot of calcium dissolved in it. The whitish substance is calcium carbonate, people used to harvest marl to lime agricultural fields. The marl substrate is always saturated, may be flooded, and has a very high ph, generally greater than 7.5. The main source of water is always groundwater. The plants are often sparse and stunted. Marl fens may occur as small patches within a rich graminoid fen. Rich Graminoid Fen A wetland of mostly grasses usually fed by water from highly calcareous springs or seepage. These waters have high concentrations of minerals and high ph values, generally from 6.0 to 7.8. Plant remains do not decompose rapidly and these grasses usually grow on older, undecomposed plant parts. Associated Species Arctic Bentgrass (Agrostis mertensii) Tundra Dwarf Birch (Betula glandulosa) Pickering's Reed Bent-grass (Calamagrostis pickeringii) Bigelow Sedge (Carex bigelowii) Few-seeded Sedge (Carex oligosperma) Beaked Spike-rush (Eleocharis rostellata) Purple Crowberry (Empetrum eamesii ssp. atropurpureum) Black Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum) False Toadflax (Geocaulon lividum) Hierochloe alpina ssp. orthantha Appalachian Fir-clubmoss (Huperzia appressa) Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) Boott's Rattlesnake-root (Prenanthes boottii) Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum var. lapponicum) Bearberry Willow (Salix uva-ursi) Alpine Goldenrod (Solidago leiocarpa) Mountain Goldenrod (Solidago simplex var. randii) Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) Sticky False-asphodel (Triantha glutinosa) Northern Blueberry (Vaccinium boreale) Bog Blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) Identification Comments NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 3

4 Deer's hair sedge is a densely tufted grass-like perennial. The stiff and narrow stems are 5-45 cm tall. The leaves are inconspicous and mostly appear as scales at the base of the stem. One leaf occurs further up the stem. At the tip of the stem is a tiny (up to 1/4 inch long) cluster of small inconspicuous flowers (spikelet). Each spikelet contains between 3-9 flowers enclosed at the base by small scales. The fruits are one seeded, hard walled, and less than 1/16th of an inch long (Fernald 1970, Crins 2002). Best Life Stage for Identifying This Species This species is easiest to identify when it is in flower or fruit. Specimens should include full culms including the basal sheaths. The Best Time to See This species starts to flower in June and is in fruit through September. Therefore, the best time to survey for this species is from mid-june until early September. Vegetative Flowering Fruiting Similar Species Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec The time of year you would expect to find Deer's Hair Sedge in New York. Trichophorum cespitosum can be distinguished from the three other Trichophorum spp. that occur in New York by its smooth, round to nearly round stems compared to the scabrous, triangular stems of the three other taxa. Although not recognized by Crins (2002) and other authors (Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Haines and Vining 1998), Fernald's var. delicatulus is distinguished by less stiff stems, blackish or lead colored basal sheaths, and calcareous habitats. Some Eleocharis species can look superficially similar with upper leaves that are without distinct blades and achenes that are terminated by tubercles. Eriophorum vaginatum perhaps could look superficially similar as well. It has at least 10, long, cottony-white, hairlike perianth bristles, and 10 or more empty sterile scales at the base of the spikelets. Conservation Comments The segregate genus Trichophorum has been used as a separate genus distinct from Scirpus or as a section of Scirpus since The type for this genus has been conserved as T. alpinum (Salmenkallio and Kukkonen 1989, Greuter et al. 2000). Trichophorum is currently accepted as a distinct genus of nine species worldwide including T. cespitosum (Crins 2002). The name Baeothryon has sometimes been applied to this group but is now considered a synonym for Eleocharis (Salmenkallio and Kukkonen 1989). As Fernald NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 4

5 (1921) pointed out, the name used by Linnaeus in the original publication was Scirpus cespitosus, and therefore, should not be altered to S. caespitosus (Greuter et al. 2000) as has been done by some authors (Palla 1897). When placed in the genus Trichophorum, the specific epithet should be altered to cespitosum, to agree grammatically with the new genus name (Greuter et al. 2000). The transfer of S. cespitosus to T. cespitosum was done by both Hartman in 1849 and Schur in 1853 (International Plant Name Index 2007). Therefore, Schur's authorship is considered a later isonym and disregarded. The correct authorship is T. cespitosum Hartman. Two taxa within T. cespitosum have been recognized as long ago as 1897 (Palla 1897, Swan 1999). At the subspecific rank these are T. cespitosum ssp. cespitosum and T. cespitosum ssp. germanicum. Subspecies germanicum is restricted to Atlantic and Subatlantic Europe while ssp. cespitosum is circumpolar and occurs in North America, Europe, and Asia. There has been differing opinion as to which of these taxa applies to the species Linnaeus described as Scirpus cespitosus. Swan (1999) designated the lectotype thereby fixing the circumpolar taxa as the type of the species. In North America, the name S. cespitosus var. callosus has been applied to the circumpolar taxa and now clearly needs to be considered a syno Taxonomy Kingdom Phylum Plantae Anthophyta Class Monocots (Monocotyledoneae) Order Cyperales Family Additional Common Names Deergrass Tufted Bulrush Cyperaceae (Sedge Family) Synonyms Scirpus cespitosus var. delicatulus (Fernald) Scirpus cespitosus (L.) Scirpus cespitosus var. callosus (Bigelow) Additional Resources Links International Plant Names Index USDA Plants Database TRICHOPHORUM+CESPITOSUM NatureServe Explorer NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 5

6 PITOSUM Google Images References Crins, W.J Trichophorum Persoon. Pages in Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Editors), Flora of North America, North of Mexico, Volume 23, Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Cyperaceae. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. 608pp + xxiv. Fernald, M.L The North American representatives of Scirpus cespitosus. Rhodora 23: Fernald, M.L Gray's manual of botany. 8th edition. D. Van Nostrand, New York pp. Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp. Greuter, W., J. McNeill, F.R. Barrie, H.M. Burdet, V. Demoulin, T.S. Filgueiras, D.H. Nicolson, P.C. Silva, J.E. Skog, P. Trehane, N.J. Turland, and D.L. Hawksworth (editors) International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Saint Louis Code) adopted by the Sixteenth International Botanical Congress, St. Louis, Missouri, July-August Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein, Germany. Haines, A. and T.F. Vining Flora of Maine, A Manual for Identification of Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of Maine. V.F.Thomas Co., Bar Harbor, Maine. Hollingsworth, P.M. and G.A. Swan Genetic differentiation and hybridisation among subspecies of deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum (L.) Hartman) in Northumberland. Watsonia 22: Holmgren, Noel The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. Keys, Jr.,J.; Carpenter, C.; Hooks, S.; Koenig, F.; McNab, W.H.; Russell, W.;Smith, M.L Ecological units of the eastern United States - first approximation (cd-rom), Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. GIS coverage in ARCINFO format, selected imagery, and map unit tables. Lesica, P The rare vascular plants of Pine Butte Preserve. Unpublished report to The Nature Conservancy, Montana Field Office, Helena. 15 pp. Mitchell, Richard S. and Gordon C. Tucker Revised Checklist of New York State Plants. Contributions to a Flora of New York State. Checklist IV. Bulletin No New York State Museum. Albany, NY. 400 pp. NatureServe NatureServe Central Databases. Arlington, Virginia. USA New York Natural Heritage Program Biotics database. New York Natural Heritage Program. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Albany, NY. Palla, A Einige bemerkungen über Trichophorum atrichum und caespitosum. Berichte Der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft 15: Reschke, Carol Ecological communities of New York State. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Latham, NY. 96 pp. plus xi. Salmenkallio, M. and I. Kukkonen Proposal to Conserve 466a Trichophorum (Cyperaceae) NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 6

7 with a Conserved Type. Taxon 38: Swan, G.A Identification, distribution, and a new nothosubspecies of Trichophorum cespitosum (L.) Hartman (Cyperaceae) in the British Isles and N.W. Europe. Watsonia 22: Weldy, T. and D. Werier New York flora atlas. [S.M. Landry, K.N. Campbell, and L.D. Mabe (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research University of South Florida New York Flora Association Albany, New York New York Natural Heritage Program 625 Broadway, 5th Floor, Albany, NY Phone: (518) acris@nynhp.org This project is made possible with funding from: - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Estuary Program - Division of Lands & Forests, Department of Environmental Conservation - New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Information for this guide was last updated on Aug 15, 2017 This guide was authored by NYNHP Conservation Guide - Deer's Hair Sedge (Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum) 7