Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains

62. Cyperaceae, the Sedge Family

2. Carex L. -- Sedge

19. Carex emoryi Dewey

Loosely tufted from long scaly rhizomes; culms trigonous, 4-10 dm long, exceeding the leaves, smooth to rough. Leaves green, 2-5 mm wide, the lower ones bladeless, merely sheathing the base of the culms; leaf sheaths white-hyaline ventrally, white to yellow-tinged dorsally, the lower ones dark red to brown, not shredding into ladderlike fibers; ligule at juncture of blade and sheath truncate to rounded, as wide as or wider than long. Spikes 3-7, the terminal 1 or 2 staminate, 2-4.5 cm long, the lateral ones pistillate or androgynous, 2-10 cm long; lowest bract leaflike, sheathless; pistillate scales blunt to acuminate, narrower than the perigynia. Perigynia light green, becoming stramineous at maturity, whitish-papillate only at the apex, biconvex, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 1.6-2.9 mm long, 1/2 to 3/5 as wide; beak to 0.2 mm long, entire; achenes lenticular, ca. 1.5 mm long; stigmas 2. Late May--Jul. Shores, stream banks, wet meadows and seepage areas; frequent; (NY and NJ to Man., s to FL, TX and NM).

See note under C. stricata.


Carex emoryi (from Hermann 1970).

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