Carex bigelowii
Family: Cyperaceae
Distribution: This species has been attributed to NM from
a single immature specimen from Latir Mesa, Taos County.
Plants Seen or Cited: New Mexico: Taos Co.,
Latir Mesa, T30N R14E Sec 32, 12,600 ft, 1 Aug 1979, R. Fletcher
4019 (UNM).
Discussion: This specimen does key to C. bigelowii in Herman (1970),
but upon reading the description, some details are all wrong.
The scales do not resemble bigelowii and the perigynia look like
they will be the wrong type when they mature. I cannot key this
specimen, but I know it is not C. bigelowii. Anyone finding themselves
on Latir Mesa in late summer should collect all the black-scaled
carices to clear up this ID question. I also talked to Miriam
Fritts about this. She says bigelowii is an eastern species and
very unlikely to be in the southern Rockies. She believes Hermann's
placing this species in CO and ID is just plain wrong. In short,
Carex bigelowii does not occur in NM.
Important Information Sources:
Cronquist et al. 1977. Intermountain Flora, Vol. 6
- Monocots. Columbia Univ. Press.
Fritts, Miriam (Pers. Comm. 1998). Carex expert on Colorado and Arizona species.
Lives in Tucson (520) 887-7291.
Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Univ. Press of Kansas, Lawrence.
Hermann, F.J. 1970. Carices of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado
Basin. USFS Ag. Handbook No. 374.
Information Compiled By: Robert Sivinski, 1998
