Carex curta
Tracheophyta
›Magnoliopsida›Cyperaceae›Carex›Carex curta
Ecology
A perennial herb of lowland bogs, floating Sphagnum rafts in lowland basin mires, nutrient-poor mires in the mountains, and wet, acidic, occasionally sandy heaths. 0-1100 m (Ben Alder, Westerness).
Status
Native
Trends
The 1962 Atlas shows a decline in this species since 1930, especially in England. Since then, a few more sites in the lowlands have been lost to drainage, but many more have been discovered in the west, particularly in Wales and N. Ireland.
World Distribution
Circumpolar Boreal-montane element.
© Pete Stroh
Caenlochan
© Pete Stroh
Peatmoor Pond
© K.J. Walker, BSBI
Broad Habitats
Fen, marsh and swamp (not wooded)
Light (Ellenberg): 8
Moisture (Ellenberg): 9
Reaction (Ellenberg): 3
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 2
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 2.7
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 13.6
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1303
Height (cm): 50
Perennation - primary
Perennial
Life Form - primary
Hemicryptophyte
Woodiness
Herbaceous
Clonality - primary
Rhizome shortly creeping
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 1190
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 219
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: 0.17
Weighted Changed Factor: -24
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
21
JNCC Designations
NBNSYS0000002484