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 large, bright green, grass-like sedge usually 0.3 to 1 m tall. Stems solid and triangular.
Leaves: Deeply grooved leaves with distinct linear indent, or keel, at midrib.
Flowers/Fruit: Large, shiny, spiny seedheads, sometimes quite elongated. Perigynia oriented more at right angle to stem. 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 April through September.
Habit and Range: Common in sunny, wet places like ditches, bogs, and marshes statewide.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Carex lurida (shallow sedge) is easily confused with Carex lupulina (hop sedge) which is found statewide but less commonly in the mountains. Carex lupulina has similar but shorter and fatter seedheads and perigynia are oriented more in an upward direction in relation to the seedhead stem; seeds are pointed and oval-shaped.
Click here to view Carex lupulina.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
