Carex helferi

Carex helferi is a tussock-forming species of perennial sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to parts of South East Asia.

Description

The sedge has a woody rhizome with central culms that have a triangular cross-section with a length of and a width of and that are smooth lower down with a rough texture toward the top. It has basal flattish to folded lengthwise leaves with a broadly linear to lanceolate shaped blade that is long with a long dark brown sheaths that usually disintegrate. The narrow inflorescences appear as a narrow branched cluster with a length of with three to six crowded to distant nodes.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist Johann Otto Boeckeler in 1876 as a part of the work Linnaea. It has two synonyms;

Carex helferi subsp. mapaniifolia T.Koyama
Carex mapaniifolia Ridl.

Distribution

It is often situated along river banks in the understorey of evergreen forests from an altitude of in tropical biomes, the range of the plant extends from Myanmar in the north to Thailand in the south and on the island of Java in Indonesia.