Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

FOX SEDGE

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Carex vulpinoidea Michx.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1 - 3 feet

Family: Cyperaceae - Sedge Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Culms:

Erect, stiff, slender, strongly triangular, rough above, often shorter than leaves, bases dark brown.

Leaves:

Blades 3 to several, clustered near base, mostly flat, to 4 feet long, less than 1/4 inch wide, glabrous; margins rough.

Sheaths:

Open, tight, wrinkled cross-wise, inner surface greenish white.

Inflorescences:

Spikes, bisexual, in narrow heads 1.5 to 4 inches long, to 3/5 inch wide; spikes 15 or more, clustered closely together, occasionally separated by spaces between spikes, sessile, densely flowered, ovoid-oblong, to 1/3 inch long; staminate flowers above pistillate flowers; bracts at bases of most spikes, bristle-like, to 2 inches long; pistillate scales ovate, as long or slightly longer than perigynia; margins greenish brown to transparent; centers green; tips strongly awned; perigynia ovoid, flat, green or yellowish brown; beaks about as long as body of the perigynia, 2-toothed.

Fruits:

Achenes, lens-shaped, reddish brown, 1-seeded; stigmas 2, reddish brown.

Habitat:

Wet ditches, ravines, prairie swales, edges of marshes, springs, lakes, and ponds, most abundant in clayey soils.

Distribution:

East 4/5 of Kansas.

Comments:

A widespread and abundant species of Carex. The distinctive inflorescence makes fox sedge easy to identify.

Fox sedge