Northeast Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Carex prasina Wahlenb.
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: May-June
- Field Marks: The distinguishing features of this species are its separate male spike, its drooping female spikes, its slenderly ellipsoid perigynia, and its awned female scales.
- Habitat: Rich woods, moist meadows.
- Habit: Tufted perennial herb from thickened rootstocks.
- Stems: Upright, slender, triangular, up to 2 1/2 feet tall, smooth except near the tip, brownish at the base.
- Leaves: Elongated, pale green, weak, rough to the touch, up to 1/4 inch wide.
- Flowers: Borne in spikes, the male spike one, the female spikes 2-4; male spike slender, short-stalked, sometimes with female flowers at the tip; female spikes narrowly cylindric, pale green, up to 3 inches long, on arching or drooping stalks; female scales ovate, awned, pale with a green midvein, shorter than the perigynia.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Borne in perigynia, the perigynia slenderly ellipsoid, triangular, pale green, few-nerved, up to 1/4 inch long, tapering to a curved beak; styles 3.
- Fruits: Achenes triangular.
- Notes: The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.
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