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Carex scirpoidea - (image 1 of 3)

Taxonomy

Family: Cyperaceae

Section Scirpinae

Habitat

Dry, open, calcareous sites.

Associates

Distribution

Irregularly circumboreal; widespread in northern North America, south in the northeast to northern New England, NY, and MI.

Morphology

Plants cespitose, dioicous, with short rhizomes; stems 10-40 cm, surpassing the leaves, solitary or few together; main leaves 1-3 mm wide; peduncle often with a minute bract about 1 cm from the top; spike 1, erect, slender, 1-3 cm long; pistillate scales brown, a bit shorter and much narrower than the perigynia, thinly hairy; perigynia appressed-ascending, obovate-oblong, 2.5-3 mm, densely short-hairy, 2-keeled, otherwise virtually nerveless, subtriangular in cross-section, with a minute beak to 0.2 mm long; achene trigonous, more or less filling the perigynium; rachilla wanting.

Notes

Fruiting June to August

Wetland indicator: FACU

Northeastern plants are var. scirpodea. Mostly found at high elevation in northern NY and northern New England.

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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