Carex lurida (Sallow sedge)

Carex lurida Wahlenb.

Sallow sedge, shallow sedge, lurid sedge

This sedge is native to eastern North America.

Plants: This sedge has a tuft of leaves at the bottom and stems, technically culms, up to 2′ (71 cm) long. Culms are stiff and triangular in cross-section.

Leaves: The leaf blades, resembling grass, are about a foot long and ⅜″ (9.5 mm) across. They are green or yellow-green in color.

Flowers: The culms have one to four lime-green, pistillate, spikes; and a single staminate spike. The pistillate spikelets are the most arresting feature, and 1–1½″ long ⨉ ½″ around (3–4 ⨉ 1.5 cm). The staminate spikelet is about ¾″ (2 cm) long, and thin, quickly becoming brown after shedding pollen.

Fruits: The pistillate spikes are comprised of perigynia, each of which contains an achene ~1/16 ⨉ ~1/32″ (2–2.5 ⨉ 1–1.3 mm).

Habitats: Marshy conditions such as sedge meadows, swamps and ditches.

From Britton, Nathaniel Lord, and Brown, Addison, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913, p. Vol 1: 436

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

The Missouri Botanical Garden

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Flora of North America

References:

Knobel, Edward, Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges and Rushes of the United States, Dover Publications Inc., 1980, p. 65

8/6/2021 · Tarbox Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 4 × 5″ (10 × 12 cm)

6/15/2012 · Townsend State Forest, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

6/15/2012 · Townsend State Forest, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm)

6/22/2023 · Florida Lake Park, Freeport, Maine

9/29/2012 · Franconia Notch Area, New Hampshire · ≈ 5 × 4″ (12 × 10 cm)

8/25/2013 · Casalis State Forest, Elm Hill Rd, Peterborough, New Hampshire · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 17 cm)

9/16/2020 · Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 8.7 cm)

6/30/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm)

9/29/2016 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenberg, Massachusetts ID is uncertain

6/19/2021 · Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, Maine

6/15/2012 · Townsend State Forest, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 4½″ (10 × 12 cm)

6/26/2024 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 6″ (12 × 15 cm)

7/4/2025 · Wilson’s Cove, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 13 × 8″ (32 × 21 cm)

8/17/2020 · Otter Brrok Preserve, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

6/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 14″ (23 × 35 cm)

6/2/2010 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Groton, Massachusetts

7/31/2023 · Otter Brrok Preserve, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Harpswell, Maine

7/4/2025 · Wilson’s Cove, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 2½″ (7.2 × 6.2 cm)

8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 4 × 2½′ (123 × 82 cm)

9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm)

8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm)

9/29/2016 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenberg, Massachusetts ID is uncertain

6/10/2017 · Andres Institute of Art, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, New Hampshire · ≈ 3½ × 5″ (9.2 × 13 cm)

6/27/2025 · Butler Head Preserve, Bath, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (12 × 19 cm)

9/26/2016 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenberg, Massachusetts ID is uncertain

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 6″ (14 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

6/15/2012 · Townsend State Forest, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 8″ (18 × 20 cm)

9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm)

9/16/2020 · Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 16 cm)

9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

9/16/2020 · Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm)

9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 15 × 10″ (39 × 26 cm)

6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (12 × 9.8 cm)

9/29/2016 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenberg, Massachusetts ID is uncertain

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 6″ (10 × 15 cm)

9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 15 × 10″ (39 × 26 cm)

9/29/2016 · Henry E. Cowdrey Nature Center, Lunenberg, Massachusetts ID is uncertain

6/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Commelinidae	Dayflowers and spiderworts, and several others
Order	Cyperales	Flowering plants including grasses
Family	Cyperaceae	Sedge family
Genus	Carex	The “true” sedges
Species	lurida	Means “vividly colored”

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Carex lurida description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.