FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
All Carex spp. have "v" shaped leaf blades with distinctive keels. All sedges also have triangular flowering stems (in cross-section). Identification to species requires mature fruits and seeds (achenes).
Synonym(s): Carex laxiflora
Description: A small, clumping, grass-like sedge usually 0.3 to 0.5 m tall. Stems solid and triangular.
Leaves: Narrow leaves with distinct linear indent, or keel, at midrib.
Flowers/Fruit: Long flowering stems with crowded clumps of perigynia, each wider past the middle. Inflorescence contains male and female flowers crowded in separate cylindrical clusters on the same plant. All Carex species share the feature of seeds (achenes) being completely encompassed by an outer covering (perigynium). Flowers and fruits May through June.
Habit and Range: Bottomlands and other rich woods. Chiefly in the Mountains and Piedmont; rare in the Coastal Plain.
