Features: The Small-flowered Lipocarpha (Lipocarpha micrantha) is a tiny sedge that grows on periodically submerged, moist sandy shorelines of lakes and rivers. Sedges resemble grasses, but their stems are unjointed and often three-sided. The numerous small flowers of the Lipocarpha are compactly arranged in a spikelet. This plant is an annual which dies at the end of the growing season, and it must produce a great many seeds in order to survive. Its seeds can lie dormant in the sand for long periods of time, and germinate when conditions are favourable.

Status: Threatened Provincially, Endangered Nationally

Range: The range of the Small-flowered Lipocarpha extends from North and Central America to the northern part of South America. Although generally regarded as uncommon in North America, it may be overlooked in some places because of its small size. In Canada, it occurs at one site in British Columbia and at one on Sable Island in northwestern Ontario. It is extirpated in Quebec. When last suveyed, the population consisted of about 2,000 plants. A new, small population was discovered in northwest Ontario in 2000. Flooding of the site the following year made it impossible to ascertain population status. Range Maps

Threats: Likely never widespread or common in Ontario, there is little historical data on population trends for this species. One population on private land at Holiday Beach was relocated in 1987, but was not found in surveys in 2001 and has likely disappeared. Shoreline alteration was probably responsible for the loss of this population. Cottage development, pollution, erosion and vehicle traffic on beaches all pose a threat to species such as the Small-flowered Lipocarpha that require relatively undisturbed sandy shoreline habitats.

Protection: The Sable Island population is protected in a Provincial Nature Reserve on Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario. The Natural Heritage component of the Provincial Policy Statement under Ontario's Planning Act provides for the protection of significant portions of the habitat of threatened species.

Text Sources: Sabourin et al. 1992; Smith et al. 2002

Last Modified Date: June 2010