Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Poales Small
Family
Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus
Carex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Carex subtilis K.A.Ford in Global Carex Group, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 179: 36 (2015)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Uncinia sinclairii var. elegans Kük. in Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 799 (1906)
  • ≡ Uncinia macrolepis var. elegans (Kük.) Kük., Pflanzenr. (Engler) 38 , 60 (1909)
  • ≡ Uncinia elegans (Kük.) Hamlin, 19: 11 (1959)
Etymology:
The name refers to the delicate habit of this species.
 Description

Shortly rhizomatous, rhizome 1–1.5 mm. diam. Culms 4–15–(30) cm. × 0.5–1 mm., erect, us. glab. but occ. faintly scabrid just below infl.; basal bracts dull grey-brown. Lvs 4–9 per culm, < or ± = culms, 1–1.5–(2) mm. wide, soft. Spikes (1.5)–2–3 cm. × 2–3–(4) mm., cylindrical, ebracteate, female fls c. 10, rather close-set but lower ones often more lax. Glumes slightly < utricles, persistent, obtuse, coriac., straw-coloured with brown markings, to dark brown, midrib green. Utricles 4–5 × 1–1.5 mm., plano-convex, obovate-oblong, grey-brown with darker brown nerves, hispid on margins and both surfaces of upper half, beak slightly tapering, c. 1 mm. long, stipe scarcely narrowed, c. 0.5 mm. long.

[From: Moore and Edgar (1970) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 2. as Uncinia elegans (Kük.) Hamlin]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [as Uncinia elegans (Kük.) Hamlin] [Data deficient]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76. [as Uncinia elegans (Kük.) Hamlin]
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. [Naturally Uncommon]
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 elegans (Kük.) Hamlin] [Naturally Uncommon]
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.
Kükenthal, G. 1909: Cyperaceae - Caricoideae. In: Engler, H.G.A. (ed.) Das Pflanzenreich. Vol. Heft 38.