Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Carex edura K.A.Ford in Global Carex Group, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 179: 31 (2015)
Synonymy:
  • Uncinia divaricata Boott in Hooker, Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 286 (1853)
  • Uncinia compacta var. divaricata (Boott) Hook.f., Handb. New Zealand Fl. 309 (1864)
  • = Uncinia clarkii Petrie (1888)
  • Uncinia compacta var. clarkii (Petrie) Kük., Pflanzenr. (Engler) 38 , 65 (1909)
  • = Uncinia compacta var. petriei C.B.Clarke in Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 800 (1906)
  • Uncinia divaricata var. petriei (C.B.Clarke) Hamlin, 19: 57 (1959)
Etymology:
From the Latin edurus, or tough, referring to the harsh environmental conditions this species withstands.
 Description

Laxly caespitose or shortly rhizomatous, rhizome 1–2 mm. diam. Culms 1–16–(40) cm. × 0.5–1–(2) mm., erect or ascending, rigid, subtrigonous, glab.; basal bracts dull yellow-brown or darker brown. Lvs 4–8–(12) per culm, us. < mature culms but occ. = or > culms, (1.5)–2–4 mm. wide, rather soft to coriac., dark yellowish green, scabrid on margins. Spikes 1–4.5 cm. × 4–10 mm., female fls ∞, densely crowded, internodes almost all equal, 0.5–1 mm. long. Glumes occ. > utricles in lower part of spike, = or < utricles above, deciduous, subulate or ovate, obtuse to subacute, membr., hyaline, or light to dark brown and opaque, midrib green with the 3 nerves not very conspicuous, midrib of 1–3 lowest glumes often scabrid and occ. produced in lowermost glume to a scabrid awn. Utricles 3.5–4.5–(5) × 1–1.5 mm., trigonous or subtrigonous with conspicuous lateral nerves, greenish brown to dark brown, widely spreading when ripe, contracted below to a broad stipe c. 1 mm. long, beak 1–1.5 mm. long.

[From: Moore and Edgar (1970) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 2. as Uncinia divaricata Boott]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [as Uncinia divaricata Boott] [Not Threatened]
Global Carex Group 2015: Making Carex monophyletic (Cyperaceae, tribe Cariceae): a new broader circumscription. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 179: 1–42.
Hamlin, B.G. 1959: A Revision of the Genus Uncinia (Cyperaceae Caricoideae) in New Zealand. Dominion Museum Bulletin 19: 1–106.
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Hooker, J.D. 1864: Handbook of the New Zealand Flora: a systematic description of the native plants of New Zealand and the Chatham, Kermadec's, Lord Auckland's, Campbell's and Macquarie's Islands. Part I. Reeve, London.
Kükenthal, G. 1909: Cyperaceae - Caricoideae. In: Engler, H.G.A. (ed.) Das Pflanzenreich. Vol. Heft 38.