Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Nebraska Sedge
Carex nebrascensis Dewey

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
Flowering: May-September
Field Marks: This sedge is recognized by its bluish leaves, its 1-2 terminal male spikes, 2 stigmas, and short-beaked perigynia with 5-10 veins on each face.
Habitat: Swamps, wet meadows, around lakes and ponds.
Habit: Perennial sedge from creeping rhizomes.
Stems: Stems upright, rather stout, triangular, up to 3 feet tall, smooth or somewhat roughened.
Leaves: Alternate, elongated, shorter or longer than the stem, up to 1/2 inch wide, smooth or sometimes roughened along the edges, often bluish; sheaths yellow-brown.
Flowers: Borne in spikes, the male flowers usually in separate spikes from the female flowers, but on the same plant; male spikes 1 or 2, above the female spikes, narrowly cylindrical, up to 2 inches long; female spikes 2-5, up to 3 inches long, the lowest spike subtended by a leafy bract as long as or longer than the inflorescence.
Scales: Lanceolate, pointed at the tip, longer or shorter than the perigynia, with a green or pale midvein.
Sepals: O.
Petals: O.
Stamens: 3.
Pistils: Enclosed in a perigynium; each perigynium ellipsoid to obovoid, abruptly tapering to a very short, 2-cleft beak, straw-colored to brown, up to 1/5 inch long, with 5-10 veins on each face; styles 2.
Fruits: Achenes lenticular, smooth, up to 1/8 inch long.
Notes: The uppermost female spike sometimes has a few male flowers near its tip. This sedge is sometimes an important forage species for livestock. The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.

Previous Species -- Small-wing Sedge (Carex microptera)
Return to Species List -- Group 3
Next Species -- Clustered Field Sedge (Carex praegracilis )

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/3/carenebr.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:24:33 EST
Reston, VA [vaww55]