Carex laevivaginata (Kük.) Mack. - Smooth-sheathed Fox Sedge


 

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Carex laevivaginata - (image 1 of 5)

 

Taxonomy

Family: Cyperaceae

 

Section Vulpinae

Habitat

Wet woods, marshes, swamps, most often in calcareous soils.

Associates

 

Distribution

MA to MI and MN, south to northern FL, AL, and MO.

Morphology

Stems to 1 m, stout, clustered, spongy, with 3-6 leaves, sharply angled and winged; leaves yellow-green, 5-10 mm wide, flat, margin scabrous; sheaths smooth, not prolonged at the distinctively concave and thickened summit; inflorescence 2-5 cm long and 1-1.5 cm thick; spikes numerous, androgynous, few-flowered, small, bracts thin and curved; scales short cuspidate, much shorter than perigynia; perigynia 4.9-6.2 mm long (averaging 5.2 mm), usually less than a third as wide, green or somewhat stramineous at maturity, spongy-thickened at the base, gradually narrowing from the base to the tip, widely spreading; achene lenticular; stigmas 2.

Notes

Fruiting May to June

Wetland indicator: OBL

Differs from other members of section Vulpinae by the thickened, yellow sheath apex and papillose upper leaf surfaces.

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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© Michael Hough 2018