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Carex lupulina - (image 1 of 3)

Taxonomy

Family: Cyperaceae

Section Lupulinae

Habitat

Moist woods, swamps, marshes.

Associates

Distribution

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick west to MN and NE, south to FL and TX.

Morphology

Perennial to 1.3 m from long, dark, scaly, rhizomes; stems smooth, solitary or few; basal sheaths persistent, reddish to brownish; leaves septate-nodulose, to 1.5 cm wide, the uppermost (excluding bracts) with a sheath 1.5-2.5 cm; spikelets cylindric, pedunculate; staminate spikelets single, terminal, to 8.5 cm long; perigynia more than 1 cm long, lance-ovate; stigmas 3; style persistent; achenes trigonous, typically longer than broad.

Notes

Fruiting late May to July.

Wetland indicator: OBL

The specimens in these photographs could just as easily be identified as C. lupuliformis Sartwell, which is similar to C. lupulina except that the achenes are mostly as long as broad, with exaggerated thickening on the summits of the angles. Carex lupuliformis is very rare in NY and I have yet to come across it in the field. 

References

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

Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.

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