Botany Photo of the Day

In February 3rd's BPotD entry on Erica plukenetii, I asked as an aside if anyone wanted to suggest which genus of plants in British Columbia had the most species. My one hint was a speculation that the same genus likely has the most species diversity in much of Canada and northern US.

Although Eurasian in distribution (but growing successfully in the Alpine Garden), the genus of this plant is the answer to that question: Carex, or the true sedges. This particular species is commonly known as mountain sedge (a literal translation of the Latin epithet montana) or soft-leaved sedge. Not knowing the common name at the time of the photograph, I didn't take the opportunity to test the texture of the leaves; in general, leaves of plants in the genus Carex contain silica bodies and are most decidedly not soft. Considering that silica is a component in glass production, you will likely find it believable that handling the leaves of some sedges can cut your hands in a manner akin to papercuts.

Botany resource link: Interested in tracking down books about particular groups of plants? Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has merged its bibliographic databases creating a one-stop search tool: Kew Bibliographic Databases.