Images
Click on image to view full size
Morphology
- Culm
- Erect, stout, triangular, light-green, rough above, bases purplish red.
- Leaves
- Elongate, firm, some overtopping inflorescence, to 1/3 inch wide, green, rough.
- Sheath
- White transparent.
- Inflorescence
- Spikes, unisexual; terminal spike staminate, 1/2 to 2 inches long, less than 1/6 inch thick, slender-stalked, often with leaf-like bract at base; staminate scales reddish brown with green centers, awned; lateral spikes 1-4, pistillate, densely flowered, oblong-cylindric, .75 to 2.5 inches long, to 3/5 inch thick, subtended by leaf-like bracts; upper pistillate spikes nearly sessile; lower pistillate spikes slender-stalked, somewhat drooping; pistillate scales usually shorter than perigynium, inconspicuous, reddish brown with green centers; awns long, minutely toothed; perigynia to 100 per spike, elongate egg-shaped, pale green, shiny, many-ribbed, tapered abruptly into long beaks with 2 rigid teeth.
- Fruit
- Achenes, triangular, brown, 1-seeded; stigmas 3, reddish brown.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Open wet sites, marshy areas, swamps, shorelines, and ditches.
- Distribution
- Principally north two thirds of Kansas.
Additional Notes
Comments
Carex comes from the Greek word keirein, "to cut", which probably alludes to the rough-margined leaves of members of the genus.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Sedge
- Family
- Cyperaceae - Sedge Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 8 to 40 inches
- Last Updated
- 2007-10-05
Flowering Period
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Blooms: May, June