15. Carex careyana Torr. ex Dewey

Pl. 32 a–d; Map 128

Plants without noticeable rhizomes, forming tufts. Vegetative stems with the leaves much wider than those of the flowering stems, often somewhat corrugated in cross-section. Flowering stems 30–60 cm long, soft and often flattened upon drying, erect to more commonly spreading, dark reddish purple at the base. Leaves mostly shorter than the stems. Leaf blades 10–40 cm long (except on bladeless, basal sheaths), 2–25 mm wide, thin, green to dark green, not glaucous, the margins smooth, flat. Leaf sheaths with the tip extended past the insertion of the leaf blade, shallowly concave, the lowermost sheath bases dark reddish purple. Spikes 3–4 per stem, the bracts leaflike, shorter than to somewhat longer than the inflorescence. Staminate spike 10–22 mm long, with a stalk 6–25 mm long, not hidden by the bracts of the pistillate spikes. Pistillate spikes 8–20 mm long, 4–7 mm wide, the uppermost sessile or nearly so, the lowermost long-stalked, mostly ascending, with 4–7 perigynia, the lowermost scales all with perigynia. Staminate scales 4–6 mm long, yellowish white to white, with a green midrib and purplish-tinged margins. Pistillate scales 3.5–4.5 mm long, oblong-obovate, the tip sharply pointed, sometimes short-awned, yellowish white to white, with a green midrib and sometimes purplish-tinged margins. Perigynia 5–7 mm long, ovate-elliptic in outline, tapered to a short, straight or slightly bent beak at the tip. 2n=68. Fruits 4.5–6 mm long. May–June.

Scattered in the unglaciated portion of the state, mostly in the Ozark and Ozark Border Counties (northeastern U.S. and adjacent Canada west to Iowa and Missouri). Mesic upland forests, mostly on lower portions of rich, north-facing slopes, often on calcareous substrates.

The purplish stem and lower leaf sheath bases and the strongly dimorphic foliage distinguish this species from others in the section. Leaves of vegetative stems are mostly 8–20 mm wide, whereas those of the flowering stems are only 2–6 mm wide. The only other species in Missouri with similarly dimorphic leaves is C. albursina (section Laxiflorae), which has leaf blades that are lighter green and usually somewhat glaucous, at least on the upper surface, and perigynia with abruptly curved beaks.