Carex platyphylla - (image 1 of 3)
Taxonomy
Family: Cyperaceae
Habitat
Mesic woodlands, often under maple and beech.
Associates
Distribution
ME and southern Quebec west to WI, south VA to MO and in mountains to NC.
Morphology
Tufted perennial to 40 cm; fertile stems lateral, roughened on the angle; sheaths and staminate scales pale green or brownish, not purplish. Leaves glaucous (waxy), the larger ones over 17 mm wide; leaves of the sterile shoots mostly 10-25 mm wide, while those of the fertile shoots shorter and rarely over 6 mm wide. Staminate spikelets pedunculate; perigynia trigonous, sharply triangular.
Notes
Flowers late March to May
Wetland indicator: Upland
The specific epithet refers to the wide leaves of this sedge: platy = broad, phyll = leaf. A similar species with more narrow, non-waxy leaves and winged stems is C. albursina E. Sheld. Carex plataginea also has non-waxy leaves in addition to having mostly bladeless leaves on the fertile stems (culms).
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.
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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© Michael Hough 2004 |