Carex dioica
Tracheophyta
›Magnoliopsida›Cyperaceae›Carex›Carex dioica
Ecology
A shortly rhizomatous perennial herb of very wet, neutral to base-rich mires. It grows particularly well in silty, calcareous mud and by the edges of lime-rich flushes and springs. Although it occurs at sea level, many sites are at moderate or high altitudes, ascending to about 1000 m on Ben Lawers (Mid Perth).
Status
Native
Trends
C. dioica declined dramatically in lowland England before 1930, due to drainage and agricultural improvement. There have been further losses there (half the remaining sites south of the Severn-Humber line), but there are now a very substantial number of new records from N. and W. Britain, and from Ireland.
World Distribution
Circumpolar Boreo-arctic Montane element.
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Broad Habitats
Fen, marsh and swamp (not wooded)
Light (Ellenberg): 8
Moisture (Ellenberg): 9
Reaction (Ellenberg): 6
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 2
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 2.7
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 13.2
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1404
Height (cm): 30
Perennation - primary
Perennial
Life Form - primary
Hemicryptophyte
Woodiness
Herbaceous
Clonality - primary
Rhizome shortly creeping
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 1100
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 204
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: -0.35
Weighted Changed Factor: 17
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
18
JNCC Designations
NHMSYS0000456843