Carex (pachystachya)

jtrindle USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center 3415 NE Granger Ave Corvallis, Oregon 58413 (541)757-4812 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/orpmc

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Family Scientific Name:	Cyperaceae
Family Common Name:	sedge
Scientific Name:	Carex pachystachya Cham. ex Steud.
Common Name:	chamisso sedge, thick-headed sedge
Species Code:	CAPA14
Ecotype:	Our collections were from Mt Rainier National park at around 4,600 ft elevation near Cayuse Pass, and from Crater Lake National park around 6,000 ft elev. Propagation characteristics very similar for both.
General Distribution:	Western US, including Alaska, sea level to timberline on open, somewhat dry slopes in moister mountainous regions
Propagation Goal:	seeds
Propagation Method:	seed
ProductType:	Propagules (seeds, cuttings, poles, etc.)
Stock Type:	seed
Time To Grow:	0
Target Specifications:	Clean seed free of noxious weeds and smut; dehulled seed averages about 1,375,000 / lb.
Propagule Collection:	Seed heads can be clipped or easily hand-stripped when seed is mature, brown, and starting to shatter. Seed heads can be clipped at hard-dough to shatter stage also, and held loosely in cloth sacks for air-drying out of direct sunlight.
Propagule Processing:	Hulls are easily removed by running through an oat dehuller. Threshing with a geared-down hammermill and 3/16" screen worked well; followed by a rough scalping with office clipper 1/14" screen, low air - then seed run briefly through a lab-scale oat dehuller and rescreened with office clipper using a 1/20" screen and moderately low air flow. Also, any smutted seeds can be scalped off with the proper screen size.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Dehulling enhanced germination from 14% (control) up to 84% for dehulled seed which was useful for stand establishment.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	Our best results were achieved by fall-sowing with Carbon-banding . In this method, seed was sown into a finely tilled, firm seed bed with a Hege precision seeder, at 30 " rows, 100 seeds/ ft row; overspraying the seed with an activated charcoal slurry (carbon-banding) followed by a field application of Karmex broad spectrum pre-emergent herbicide at 2.2 lbs ai/ acre (equipment for applying the carbon slurry was provided on loan from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Corvallis). The system consists of a tank with mechanical agitator to keep the charcoal in solution, and an impeller pump connected to tubing with large-diameter nozzles directed over the seeding row to deposit the slurry in a 1/8 to 1/4 inch band directly over the seeded row. The system is front-mounted on the tractor while seeding equipment is pulled behind .
Establishment Phase:	Until emergence, some weed control was achieved over the winter with broad spectrum herbicides; once seedling emergence started the following spring weed control was by means of spot-wicking with Round-up and by mechanical hoeing / cultivation between rows. Three applications of Tilt and Bravo fungicides were made at label rates during the late winter / spring of the first and following years to control rusts and other foliage diseases
Length of Establishment Phase:	over winter; about 6 months at Corvallis
Active Growth Phase:	After initially slow growth, crowns develop more rapidly as the soil warms in spring. Little seed is produced during the first year of stand establishment. Seed harvest really begins in the 2nd year; once established, stands remained fairly healthy as long as rusts and fungi are controlled in the spring and weed competition is kept in check.
Length of Active Growth Phase:	March to June at Corvallis
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Seed ripening was fairly uniform - entire seed heads were clipped in late May / early June when seeds could be easily shaken loose from the heads. Larger plots would lend themselves to mechanical harvest; because of our small plot size the hand-clipped heads were collected in barrels andtaken to the poly greenhouse in June and spread out on tarps to dry. Seed shattered easily from the drying seed heads and were collected of the tarps and processed similar to the native collections as noted, above.
Length of Storage:	at least 5 years; see comment secton below
Other Comments:	Seed was plentiful during most collection years at both parks; seedlings were also easily established in "conetainers" for transplant plug production (see separate protocol for plug production). an informal observational seeding of 2-, 4- , and 5-year-old seed lots from Crater Lake National Park was conducted in the greenhouse in March of 1996. Germination of the 4-and 5-year old seeds was lower than for the two-year-old seeds - about half the rate of the more recent seed lot but still satisfactory for seeding cone-tainers. Seedlings from the older seed lot were not notably less vigorous or thrifty than those from the 2-year-old seeds.
References:	Corvallis Plant Materials Center Technical Report: Plants for Woodland and Rangeland Reclamation and Erosion Control 1980 - 1997 (includes Annual Reports to Mount Rainier National Park from 1990 - 1996 Hitchcock , C.L. and A. Cronquist 1973 Flora of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle Wa. Link, Ellen, ed. 1993 Native Plant Propagation Techniques for National Parks Interim Guide; Compiled by Rose Lake Plant Materials Center 7472 Stoll Road East Lansing, MI 48823 USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Citation:

Flessner, Theresa R; Trindle, Joan D.C.. 2003. Propagation protocol for production of Propagules (seeds, cuttings, poles, etc.) Carex pachystachya Cham. ex Steud. seeds seed; USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center Corvallis, Oregon. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/24). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.