Carex Sedges part 1, big and showy

It has been said that any sane person attempting to learn the 160+ species of Carex in Ohio must be insane. Who said that? I did! Seriously though, I want to thank Rick Gardner for showing me the 17 million, eh, I mean these nearly 50 species on our walks. Rick is trying to turn me into a sedge head, but like any subject, it's use it or lose it. Sedge season is May and June, so now I have to wait another year to practice in the field.

Having never worked with sedges, I will approach this purely from a layman standpoint. Some technical terms are needed to describe parts of the plant, but I'll mention them frequently enough, you'll get used to it. I was going to go over these first with a couple of folks, but a number of other people said just post it and don't worry. So I will use some colorful language to put my own spin on this group. Like many other natural history topics, there are some species that can NOT be reliably identified by photographs, even if the pictures are labeled correctly. A hand lens is needed to see minute variations between species that may not be visible here. You may come away from these posts still thinking they all look alike, well, they do, ha!

Green Bulrush, Scirpus atrovirens.

Woodrush, Luzula echinata. Rushes belong to the Juncaceae family, and can be mistaken for sedges.

Flatsedge, Cyperus.

Spikesedge, Eleocharis sp. (obtusa perhaps?)

Twig-rush, Cladium mariscoides. Like Carex, these are all members of the Cyperaceae family. Sedges have edges, or are triangular. Rushes are round, and grasses are hollow. That is only a general rule for these groups. There are always a few that want to break the rules.

Carex hirtifolia.

Carex pensylvanica. Most Carex sedges are associated with wetlands, but there is a batch of them found in more upland woods. Some, like these, have rather brilliant flowering structures, and are often pictured in wildflower books.

The first group I'd like to cover are what I call the 'inflated' species. The following three species have the look of a flail or mace. This is Gray's Sedge, Carex grayii. Those balloon like structures that look inflated and pointy are called perigynia. They house the achene or seed. On Gray's Sedge, these points radiate out in an almost 360 degree fashion. To me they also have the look of those old deep sea mines. This is a common species found through much of Ohio.

Bladder Sedge, Carex intumescens. Looking very much like grayii, the Bladder Sedge has perigynia that spread outward and upward, but rarely downward. So instead of appearing round, it looks like the lower half has been cut off, giving it a flat base.

Louisiana Sedge, Carex louisianica. Found at Lake Katherine, this is an extremely rare species in Ohio. It's not globose nor semicircular. The spikes are narrower or elongate, as if the perigynia are stacked one on top of the other.

Using my warped imagination, let's compare the three using that deep sea mine I mentioned. With the spikes radiating out in every direction, this would be Carex grayii.

With the bottom part of the mine cut off, you have Carex intumescens.

With the entire fruiting structure elongated, you have Carex louisianica. Okay, enough of that.

Tuckerman's Sedge, Carex tuckermanii. Instead of all the perigynia clustered together, these are stretched out, giving the appearance of a long blow up party balloon. Each perigynia is very round, but suddenly blunts to a long beak. The upper most fruits are often erect. Lower ones may hang to the side because they have a longer stem or peduncle. The achene inside is different from other sedges in having a notch or indentation, giving it a kidney bean shape. You need a hand lens to see that.

Squarrose Sedge, Carex squarrosa. We leave the balloon sedges behind and move into the group with a more 'tighter packed' look. This and the following species are what I call the Gum-ball or Button sedges. The short round head is distinct, and the vast majority of plants show only one fruiting head at the end of the stem.

Cattail Sedge, Carex typhina. Some say the fruit reminds them of a mini cattail. I don't really see that. Though it does grow tall, and has wide leaves like a cattail. To me it is just a more elongated squarrosa.

When you put them side by side, you can notice three differences. 1) typhina has a longer fruit head. 2) typhina will have 2-3 fruiting spikes, squarrosa only one. 3) The spiny beaks of typhina will point outward or upward. The bottom spines or beaks of squarrosa point downward.

This next batch I eloquently call the 'caterpillar sedges'. I think you can see why.

Long-hair or Bottlebrush Sedge, Carex comosa. Appropriate common names to be sure. If any species ever looked like a green caterpillar, it's this one. The spikelets are very long and crammed with a huge number of perigynia. The base of each perigynia is small, not globose like the inflated species. The beaks at the top of the perigynium spread out in all directions, giving it a fuzzy appearance. With a hand lens, they look like a bunch of baby birds with their mouths open.

Blister Sedge, Carex vesicaria. Another elongated fruiting species. The beaks do NOT spread out like comosa, so there is no fuzzy look. The perigynia are fewer and less crowded. The bases of each are more swollen, and they taper to a sharper point.

This second picture shows a more typical narrow form. Late in the season the color fades and they look more like a bunch of onions. The perigynia appear more uniform, as if arranged in rows. The first time I identified this one they were yellowish, and reminded me of an ear of corn.

Frank's Sedge or Bristly Sedge, Carex frankii. This wetland sedge has fruit that tend to grow erect and hug the stem. The perigynia look flat or deflated, and compressed together, each one forming a diamond pattern. The beaks are long and thin, giving it a bristly or hairy appearance. On similar looking sedges, the pistillate and staminate spikelets (male & female), grow together. On Frank's Sedge, the staminate spikelet is on a separate stem.

Sallow Sedge, Carex lurida.

Hop Sedge, Carex lupulina.

Sallow Sedge above, Hop Sedge below. These are not quite balloon like, and not quite caterpillar like. I call them Porcupine Sedges. I suppose you could call them spiny 'stubby' caterpillars. Both of these are common around the state. They are short peduncled and tend to hug the stem. Hop Sedge does have inflated bases, but nothing like the grayii group. You notice the sharp spiny look before anything else, at least I do. Same goes for lurida. With age lupulina turns white to brown, while lurida turns yellow.

This may be another Porcupine Sedge known as Carex hystericina. Rick was unsure about this one and stated, as I so often do, that identification by a photo alone can be unreliable. We didn't have the specimen in hand. hystericina has a shorter fruiting body than the previous two. It looks more like a 'shriveled' caterpillar. It has long peduncles, which results in the fruit usually drooping like this.

This one is rather unique, so I don't need to put it in a group. It's easy to identify. Now watch someone tell me there are a bunch of others that look like this that I just haven't seen, that would be my luck. The Fringed Sedge, Carex crinita. People could mistake this for a Foxtail, a Canada Rye, or other drooping grasses. The perigynia are slightly inflated, but from a distance appear flattened. They have a short beak. The hair like look is due to the awn like scales that protrude between the fruit.

Carex Sedges part 2-star, spiny & bushy species

I think of star shapes or pinwheels when I see the next two species. Fruits spread outward like a rosette. Perigynia on these are much smaller than anything posted in part 1.

Curly Rose Sedge, Carex rosea.

 

Star Sedge, Carex radiata. Although they can be found in wetter areas, these two are woodland species. Often when you consider habitat, you can eliminate that long list of endless or look alike species. Fruits are spread out along the stem and radiate outward in a star pattern. The styles of rosea are pinkish-red and recurved (see arrow above). They tend to be straight on radiata. The perigynia of both have ridges along the edge, giving them a flattened look.

I'm treating them together because the visible differences are minute, and these were once combined as the same species. radiata is occasional in S.E. Ohio, more common up north, more often seen in wet woods, and has leaves 2mm wide. rosea is found statewide, in drier sites, and the leaves are 3mm wide. The swollen portion of the perigynium is 4mm in radiata, only 2mm in rosea. Have fun with that.

I call this next group the Spiny Sedges. That is because they remind me of this old Florida nemesis. This is Sandspur (Cenchrus). If you go barefoot in the south, you'll soon be familiar with this. While these sedges don't get stuck in your skin, they have 'the look'. This group has only TWO stigmas rather than the more common three on their achenes.

Bur-reed Sedge, Carex sparganioides. Common in woodland situations, less so in wetlands. The way to separate it from the other spiky ones is to start at the top of the stem. The fruit are clustered together, but as you go down they become farther apart, sometimes with wide spaces between them. The round shape and distance between them are the source of the common and latin names. Individual perigynia are boat shaped. Concave in the middle, with curled up edges.

Clustered Sedge, Carex aggregata. The name suggests the spikes are all aggregated or crowded at the upper end. That's fine in separating from the above species, but there are still others who crowd their fruit like this. Rather than boat shaped, the perigynia are more flattened. With a hand lens you'll see both these species have wide shaped perigynia with short blunt beaks.

Prickly Sedge, Carex stipata.

Smooth-sheath Sedge, Carex laevivaginata. Once again I am guilty of treating two species together because of their similarities. Unlike the last two species, these have longer pointed beaks on the perigynia. It is stated that stipata has a longer fruit cluster than laevivaginata, and the individual perigynia are pale colored at their base (see arrows above).

The real difference between these two is in the stem sheath, which I'm afraid I didn't photograph. Prickly Sedge has leaf sheaths that are cross-puckered, which means it has horizontal wrinkles. Smooth-sheath Sedge does not, hence the common name.

To review these last several species, sparganioides, aggregata, and in this case C. normalis on the right, all have a wider perigynia ending in an abrupt tip (see blue arrow). stipata and laevivaginata, the two on the left, have long tapering beaks, giving them a sharper appearance (orange arrow).

Yellowfruit Sedge, Carex annectens.

Brown Fox Sedge, Carex vulpinoidea. I also want to discuss both of these together. Each of these have large clusters of fruit and long horizontal bracts (black arrow). Their perigynia are round on the bottom, flat on top. The beak is short when compared to the length of the perigynia. vulpinoidea beaks are the longer of the two. Speaking of long, Fox Sedge has a greater amount of fruit spread along the main stem, more so than ANY other species. On annectens the spikelets are more tightly compact, stacked in an alternate pattern around the stem.

C. annectens

C. vulpinoidea

In this second set of pics, look for other differences. The fruit of annectens turns yellow with age, while vulpinoidea turns brown. The leaves grow well past the fruiting stalk on vulpinoidea, they are shorter than the fruit on annectens. vulpinoidea is much more common and found state wide.

Continuing with my unorthodox classifications, I call these the bushy or broom-like sedges. (Wickipedia photo)

Carex cephalophora. Short-headed Sedge, but there are lots of other common names. Compared to the others in this group, it has the shortest and smallest amount of spikelets clustered into a little head. While these photos show very few, there can be more, but still less than the other species. These remind me of the wildflower fruits known as Avens.

Crested Sedge, Carex cristatella. Clusters of round stemless spikelets are crowded together at the top, with 1 or 2 loosely below. Each perigynia radiates outward, giving it a bushy appearance. The tops are spiky, and resemble a bird crest.

Broom Sedge, Carex tribuloides. This prickly or bushy looking species does NOT have all its fruit clustered at the ends, but spread out and with alternating spikelets along the stem. Each perigynia is flattened and ends in a pointy beak. I welcome more information on these. I think my descriptions are a bit vague, and without enough detail. Members of the Ovales group are difficult to do by photos. Most characters are hand lens minute.

Straw Sedge, Carex normalis. A woodland rather than wetland species. Spikes are all gathered around the end of the stem, but loosely arranged. The perigynia border on looking more spiny than bushy.

Prickly Quill Sedge, Carex echinodes.

Greenish-white Sedge, Carex albolutescens. It's one thing to put up pictures with names, it's another not to say much about them. I'm simply not familiar enough with these. Like cephalophora, both these species have fewer and smaller spikelets than the previous species. They are loosely spread along the stem, and not restricted to the top. This group of Carex have bent styles at their base (see arrows), but how many species does that apply to?

Prickly Quill Sedge is a new species that was lifted from Carex tenera. Greenish-white Sedge is found way up in the N.E. part of the state, and a few counties in southern Ohio. It's considered rare, but probably due to misidentifications.