Carex gracillima Schwein. var. macerrima Fernald & Wiegand
Carex gracillima Schwein. Graceful sedge
Graceful sedge is common in damp forests and meadows, native throughout central and eastern North America. Plants: Graceful sedge really is rather graceful, with long drooping spikes that emerge above the grasslike leaves. 8-36″ (20-91 cm) high. Leaves: Basal, ⅛-⅜″ (3-10 mm) wide, and alternate. Leaves may be smooth or rough in texture. A sheath at the base of the plant is often red or purple in color. Flowers: A stalk emerging above the leaves, 8-35″ (20-90 cm) long, contains both carpellate (seed-bearing) and staminate (pollen-bearing) flowers, with the carpellate ones uppermost. Each stalk has 2-5 spikes, each on a stem up to 1½″ (4 cm) long. Each spike is 0.0 mils (0 µm) × 0.0 mils (0 µm) in size. Fruits: Carpellate spikes form seed clusters called achenes. Each such cluster is wrapped in a perigynium. They appear from late spring to mid-summer. Online References:
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Carex crinita |
Carex gynandra |
You are here Carex gracillima |
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Common Name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plant | Up to 4½′ (1.4 m) tall. | Up to 4½′ (1.4 m) tall. | 8-36″ (20-91 cm) high. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Flowers | Drooping narrow cylindrical heads up to 4½″ (11 cm) long and ¼″ (7 mm) in diameter. Carpellate scales are pale, truncate to notched at apex, with rough-textured awns. 1-3 staminate spikes per stem. | 2-5 carpellate narrow, cylindrical spikes per stem. Each spike is ⅞-4″ (2.4-10 cm) long, ⅛-¼″ (3-9 mm) in diameter. Scales on the carpels are pale- to copper brown. There are 1-3 staminate spikes per stem. | A stalk emerging above the leaves, 8-35″ (20-90 cm) long, contains both carpellate (seed-bearing) and staminate (pollen-bearing) flowers, with the carpellate ones uppermost. Each stalk has 2-5 spikes, each on a stem up to 1½″ (4 cm) long. Each spike is 0.0 mils (0 µm) × 0.0 mils (0 µm) in size. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaves | M or U-shaped in cross-section, ⅛-⅜″ (4-10 mm) wide. | ⅛-⅜″ (4-10 mm) wide, U-shaped. | Basal, ⅛-⅜″ (3-10 mm) wide, and alternate. Leaves may be smooth or rough in texture. A sheath at the base of the plant is often red or purple in color. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stem | Triangular stem cross-section. Basal leaf sheaths are smooth. | Rough-textured, with a triangular cross-section. Basal leaf sheaths are rough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fruit | Perigynia are spreading, slightly inflated obovoid (widest above the middle and truncate), 1/16-⅛″ (2-4 mm) long. | Perigynia are oval-shaped, tapering to a small beak. | Carpellate spikes form seed clusters called achenes. Each such cluster is wrapped in a perigynium. They appear from late spring to mid-summer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Range/ Zones | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitats | Bottomland prairies, moist upland prairies, margins of bodies of water, spring branches, fens. | Marshes, wet forests, swamps, seeps, and roadside ditches. Perhaps a little more weedy and abundant in acidic soils than C. crinita. | Common in damp forests and meadows | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Wild | Wild | Wild |
Carex gracillima Schwein. var. macerrima Fernald & Wiegand
Carex gracillima description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 5 Sep 2023.
Range: