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).
Description: A medium-sized, clumping, grass-like sedge usually 0.5 to 1 m tall. Stems solid and triangular.
Leaves: Fine leaves with distinct linear indent, or keel, at midrib.
Flowers/Fruit: The uppermost part of the inflorescence has only male parts, and lower ones are female, producing seeds. All Carex species share the feature of seeds (achenes) being completely encompassed by an outer covering (perigynium). Flowers and fruits May through August.
Habit and Range: Floodplain forests, moist woods, meadows. Chiefly in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain.
