Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Poales Small
Family
Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus
Carex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Carex inversa R.Br., Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holland. 242 (1810)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Vignea inversa (R.Br.) Sojak, 148: 195 (1979)
Type: [‘(J.) v. v.’]: Australia, New South Wales, ‘1 Carex inversa prodr desc s s Port Jackson R Brown’ (BM000886946), R. Brown s.n. [Iter Austral. 6078] – lectotype: selected by K.L. Wilson (in Mabberley and Moore 2022).
  • = Carex inversa var. minor Boott (1867)
  • = Carex inversa var. leichardtii Boeck (1875)
  • = Carex smaragdina Colenso, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 27: 398 (1895)
Lectotype: [selected by E. Edgar in Moore and Edgar 1970, p. 282] Dannevirke, W. Colenso, WELT 21767
  • = Carex inversa var. costata Kük., Pflanzenr. (Engler) 38 , 189 (1909)
  • = Carex inversa f. parvula Kük., Pflanzenr. (Engler) 38 , 189 (1909)
Vernacular Name(s):
Creeping lawn sedge; Knob sedge
 Description

Very variable, forming a matted sward, 10–30 cm (or more) high, soft, grass-like, bright green; rhizome far-extending. Inflorescence a green ovate head ± 1 cm long. Spikes approximate, sessile, male flowers at base Stigmas 2.

[From: Healy and Edgar (1980) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 3.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Bibliography
Brown, R. 1810: Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen. Johnson, London.
Colenso, W. 1895: Phaenogams: A description of a few more newly-discovered indigenous plants; being a further contribution towards the making known the botany of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 27: 383–399.
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. [Not Threatened]
Ford, K.A. 2025: A taxonomic revision of New Zealand species of Carex section Inversae Kük. (Carex subgenus Vignea, Cyperaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany: 1–73 (online) DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2025.2458506. (Published online: 13 Feb 2025)
Kükenthal, G. 1909: Cyperaceae - Caricoideae. In: Engler, H.G.A. (ed.) Das Pflanzenreich. Vol. Heft 38.
Mabberley, D.J.; Moore, D,T. 2022: The Robert Brown Handbook: a guide to the life and work of Robert Brown (1773-1858), Scottish botanist. Regnum Vegetabile 160: 1–624.
Soják, J. 1979: Fragmenta phytotaxonomica et nomenclatorica. 2. Casopis Narodniho Musea. Oddil Prirodovedny. Prague 148: 193–209.