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Carex psychrophila Nees, Contr. Bot. India 127 1834. (syn: Carex asperula Nees; Carex celsa Boott; Carex parvibracteata Nees) ?;
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E. Afghanistan to China (Sichuan) as per WCSP;
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   Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae Week: Cyperaceae-Carex 03042013GS3 for ID from Kashmir- GS24 : Attachments (3). 4 posts by 3 authors. Another species of Kashmir, very common at low altitudes around Srinagar. Pl. help in ID Cannot help in id, yet I am surprised to find a similar looking species from my place in Kaithal..I will share soon.. Carex is a large and difficult genus. I photographed 3 Carex in my own village in the UK this year and have only, so far, been able to name one of them. There is a guide to Carex published by the BSBI which I had a copy of at one time but was damaged and discarded; I do not currently have the budget to by an up-dated version. Without it I will struggle (with help) to name the other two. In the UK we are blessed with The Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) which has a Panel of Referees and Specialists available to have material sent to them to identify. There are a number of specialists available to accept specimens (either pressed and dried or in some cases fresh) with certain ones with particular expertise in particular groups or aggregates. In all cases mature fruits and underground parts should be sent. I doubt if many of them would be able or willing to attempt to name specimens on the basis of photos alone particular those not of greater close-ups or mature fruits than shown in these images. These images are of immature flowers which make things more difficult. Just a thought, Stewart gives Carex psychrophila as common in Srinagar (and Gulmarg, Khelanmarg, Pahlgam, Sonamarg @ 1800-3300m. Can this be checked further/eliminated? Unfortunately, it is not an accepted species in ‘The Plant List’ Thanks, …, Carex psychrophila Nees is an accepted name both as per The Plant List Ver. 1.1 & Catalogue of Life Thanks for checking. So Carex psychrophila remains a possibility. As the images are of young flowers only and mature fruits are generally required to be certain of an identification, then unless we have a specialist, familiar with the genus in Kashmir, then it may be impossible for us to proceed further. Perhaps a member in Kashmir or visiting Kashmir can take good close-ups of the mature fruits of this plant and send us?
I note the following publication but do not have a copy:
Haq, E. U., G. H. Dar, B. A. Wafai and Jacob Koopman.
The Genus Carex L. (Cyperaceae) in the Kashmir Himalaya, India: A Taxonomic Appraisal. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun. (In press).
Perhaps someone who has a copy can consult this and see if it helps us?
Is Jacob Koopman a member of this group, as he is a Carex specialist when I am a beginner and this is not an easy genus? Or could forward the images to request his input with this and indeed other Carex (and Cyperaceae) from Kashmir?
Makes sense if I concentrate my strictly limited time, energy & powers of concentration on genera and families where no specialists exist especially if they are not familiar with Himalayan species. In some cases such specialists are not available.
With attempting to identify plants, one can easily spend hours (or even days or weeks) trying and then not being any the wiser afterwards. There is a “law of diminishing returns” i.e. in some cases the only sensible course of action is to put to a side the specimens/photos and return to them at a later date. Sometimes, just a ‘fresh’ look, days, weeks or months later is sufficient.
I e.g. identified sets of photos taken in Ladakh last year. For some images I was uncertain with species the belonged to (but knew the genus) and for a few which family but not the genus, as a result of checking out images posted on eFI which I have checked in recent months, I can now name the ‘outstanding’ images from 2015.
And the more difficult example require a lot of concentration which one cannot always provide if tired or busy concentrating on other matters. If one tries to name a plant in such circumstances, rushes this and does not check properly, mistakes are made and misidentifications are made.
Attempting to RELIABLY identify plants can be very demanding intellectually and mentally exhausting. I am usually very tried, indeed exhausted after spending a day in a herbarium. I do not think this is appreciated, especially in these days of “high-tech” science – just as “field skills” are often not valued in botany. Looks correct ID ! Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae Week: Cyperaceae- Carex? 03042013GS2 from Kashmir for ID-GS23 : Attachments (2). 3 posts by 2 authors. 1st image identified as Carex nivalis Boott in Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae Week: Cyperaceae- Carex nivalis from Gulmarg, Kashmir-GS19 Carex is a large and difficult genus. I photographed 3 Carex in my own village in the UK this year and have only, so far, been able to name one of them. There is a guide to Carex published by the BSBI which I had a copy of at one time but was damaged and discarded; I do not currently have the budget to buy an up-dated version. Without it I will struggle (without help) to name the other two.
In the UK we are blessed with The Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) which has a Panel of Referees and Specialists available to have material sent to them to identify. There are a number of specialists available to accept specimens of Carex (either pressed and dried or in some cases fresh) with certain ones with particular expertise in particular groups or aggregates. In all cases mature fruits and underground parts should be sent. I doubt if many of them would be able or willing to attempt to name specimens on the basis of photos alone particular those not of greater close-ups or with more mature fruits than shown in these images.
Stewart commented that like the Carex alpina complex in the Himalaya, the Carex nivalis complex is a very difficult one and the authorities do not yet agree on the best way to handle it. Some one should study the group cytologically to try and disentangle the threads. There seem to be groups which Kukenthal in his Monograph called froms. Some have called them varieties and still others consider some of them to be distinct species.
Having said that, Stewart enlisted the help of various Carex specialists to name the sedges of Pakistan & Kashmir incl. in the summer of 1964 Miss Sheila Hooper who went over the rich material at Kew with him and made the following key for the Carex gilesii-Carex griffithii-Carex mivalis complex:
1. Terminal spike usually entirely male; utricle distinctly but shortly beaked C.gilesii
Terminal spike female below, male above; beak from almost nil to distinct …..2
2. Glumes and utricles black ……..3
Glumes and utricles cinnamon brown …… C.oliverii (C.nivalis forma cinnamomea)
3 Glumes and utricles golden …… C.luteo-brunnea
Glumes and utricles not golden ……4
4 Glumes with a conspicuous green arista which exceeds the utricle ….. C.nivalis forma griffithii
Glumes with a short mucro; beak of utricle short ……..C.nivalis var. nivalis
Stewart records Carex nivalis as common from 3300-5100m.
Gulmarg is at a significantly lower elevation than 3300m but the complex is not well known, assuming it is Carex nivalis.
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