Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Poales Small
Family
Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus
Carex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Carex subviridis K.A.Ford in Global Carex Group, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 179: 37 (2015)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Uncinia distans Colenso ex Boott in Hooker, Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 286 (1853)
  • ≡ Uncinia leptostachya var. distans (Colenso ex Boott) Hook.f., Handb. New Zealand Fl. 309 (1864)
  • = Uncinia nelmesii Hamlin, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand, Bot. 2: 127-128 (1963)
Etymology:
The name refers to the light green leaves of this species.
 Description

Tussock-forming, very light green. Culms (25)–30–45–(55) cm. × 0.5 mm., slightly scabrid above; basal sheaths light brown or reddish, occ. enclosing the culm for more than half its length. Lvs 4–7 per culm, < = or > culms, 1.5–2–(3) mm. wide, sharply scabrid on margins, slightly scabrid on upper surface towards tip. Spikes (4)–5–12–(14) cm. long, often bracteate, lowermost glumes occ. lf-like and much > spike, male portion relatively long, female fls c. 10–20, ± distant, internodes 6–12 mm. long below, 2 mm. long above. Glumes < utricles, deciduous, acute, lower 2–3 acuminate and often produced to a scabrid awn, membr., green. Utricles 5.5–9 mm. × c. 1 mm., plano-convex, narrow-oblong, light green or light brown, distinctly nerved, beak 1.5–2 mm. long, narrow, with scabrid margins and occ. a few teeth on the abaxial surface, stipe 1.5–2 mm. long, narrow.

[From: Moore and Edgar (1970) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 2. Uncinia distans Colenso ex Boott]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
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 distans Colenso ex 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. [as Uncinia distans Colenso ex Boott; Uncinia leptostachya var. distans (Colenso ex Boott) Hook.f.]
Hamlin, B.G. 1963: Notes on Uncinia (Cyperaceae Caricoideae) from New Zealand, New Caledonia, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Botany 2: 127–131.
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.