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Carex granularis - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Cyperaceae

Section Granulares

Habitat

Calcareous wet meadows, swales, fens.

Associates

Distribution

Quebec and ME to Saskatchewan, south to FL, OK, and northeast TX.

Morphology

Tufted perennial on very short rhizomes; stems 30-80 cm; main leaves mostly 4-10 mm wide, often surpassing the culms; terminal spike staminate, sessile or nearly so, barely surpassing the uppermost pistillate spike and much exceeded by the bracts; pistillate spikes short-cylindric, 1-3 cm long, the lower on long-exserted (but not basal) peduncles, the upper short-peduncled or subsessile, the upper 1 or 2 contiguous to the staminate spike; pistillate scales triangular-ovate, half to fully as long as the perigynium, acute or cuspidate; perigynia crowded in several rows, ellipsoid to obovoid, 2.2-4 mm long, sharply many-nerved, abruptly contracted to a short, straight, or abruptly outcurved beak; achene concavely trigonous, loosely enveloped.

Notes

Fruiting May to July

Wetland indicator: FACW

This species and C. flava are good indicators of high pH wetlands.

References

Ball, P.W. and A.A. Reznicek. 2002. Carex, In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Eds. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 23. Oxford University Press, New York.

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

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