Flora of New Zealand Series

Rhizomatous, summer-green coarse tufts to 1 m high. Female spikes in twos or threes at each inflorescence-node, greenish- or yellowish-brown, pendulous, on long peduncles. Utricles ± 2.5 mm long, almost smooth, not easily punctured; beak minute. Stigmas 2.

N. Taranaki; Hawkes Bay; Wellington. S., St. In damp pastures, seepages or swampy river flats; lowland to montane.

Agriculturally this is one of the most troublesome weedy sp. of Carex in N.Z., belonging, with C. geminata and C. lessoniana to the group formerly known as the "carex ternaria" complex, to which the common name, "rautahi", is also given.

C. coriacea occurs as scattered patches or as large communities in seepages, damp grassland, swampy land, and wet flats between sand ridges. In winter, in inland localities, the leaves die back completely, but nearer the coast some plants may be evergreen.

The stout, woody rhizomes are a physical problem in breaking-in affected land, and regrowth from portions of severed rhizomes maintains the infestation in newly-sown crops of pasture. The tall, coarse, drooping leaves effectively smother associated spp. and are trampled flat and fouled under heavy cattle stocking. Older leaves are unpalatable, but fresh shoots appearing in spring, or after burning or cutting, are grazed, the extent depending on intensity of stocking.