|  back  | forward |

Carex scoparia - (image 1 of 7)

Taxonomy

Family: Cyperaceae

Section Ovales

Habitat

Common in wet prairies and meadows. Also calcareous fens, moist calcareous prairies, open swamps, and shores.

Associates

Calamagrostis canadensis, Thelypteris palustris, Iris virginica, Juncus dudleyi, Onoclea sensibilis, Sagittaria latifolia, Typha latifolia, Mentha arvensis.

Distribution

Newfoundland south to FL, west to British Columbia, OR, and NM.

Morphology

Tufted perennial to 70 cm, the lowest leaves reduced to scales (aphyllopodic); main leaves 1-3 mm wide, shorter than the stems; sheaths ventrally hyaline; spikes 3-8, ovoid to fusiform or subglobose, pale green to dull-stramineous or tan, sessile in an open or often condensed spike 2-4 cm; perigynia lanceolate, 4-5.5 mm x 1.5-2 mm, 2.5-3 times as long as wide, strongly flattened and much wider than the achene; achenes lenticular, narrow, mostly only 0.5-0.8 mm wide.

Notes

Fruiting late May to July

Wetland indicator: FACW

The first photograph is from a planted specimen.

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.

Home