Carex is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.
Carex buxbaumii is a species of sedge known as Buxbaum's sedge or club sedge. It is native to much of the northern Northern Hemisphere, from Alaska to Greenland to Eurasia, and including most of Canada and the United States. It grows in wet habitat, such as marshes and fens. This sedge grows in clumps from long rhizomes. The stems are 75–100 cm (30–39 in) in maximum height. The leaves are narrow and small. The inflorescence has a bract which is sometimes longer than the spikes. The fruits have dark-colored bracts and a sac called a perigynium or utricle which is gray-green and rough in texture.
Carex capitata is a species of sedge known by the common name capitate sedge. It has a circumboreal distribution including Norway, Russia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Growing in wet places in boreal forests and mountain meadows in alpine climates.
Carex pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family commonly called Pennsylvania sedge. Other common names include early sedge, common oak sedge, and yellow sedge.
Carex binervis, the green-ribbed sedge, is a European species of sedge with an Atlantic distribution. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Iberian Peninsula, and occurs in heaths, moorland and other damp, acidic environments. It typically grows to a height of 15–120 cm (6–50 in), and has inflorescences comprising one male and several female spikes, each up to 45 mm (1.8 in) long. The utricles have two conspicuous green veins, which give rise to both the scientific name and the common name of the species. In the vegetative state, it closely resembles C. bigelowii, a species that usually grows at higher altitude. C. binervis was first described by James Edward Smith in 1800, and is classified in Carex sect. Spirostachyae; several hybrids with other Carex species are known.
Carex bigelowii is a species of sedge known by the common names Bigelow's sedge, Gwanmo sedge, and stiff sedge. It has an Arctic–alpine distribution in Eurasia and North America, and grows up to 50 centimetres (20 in) tall in a variety of habitats.
Carex sylvatica is a species of sedge found in deciduous woodlands across Europe. It typically reaches 60 cm (24 in) tall, and has an inflorescence made up of 3–5 pendent female spikes and a single male spike. It is also used as a garden plant, and has been introduced to North America and New Zealand.
Carex lacustris, known as lake sedge, is a tufted grass-like perennial of the sedge family (Cyperaceae), native to southern Canada and the northern United States. C. lacustris us an herbaceous surface-piercing plant that grows in water up to 50 cm (1.6 ft) deep, and grows 50–150 cm (1.6–4.9 ft) tall. It grows well in marshes and swampy woods of the boreal forest, along river and lake shores, in ditches, marshes, swamps, and other wetland habitat. It grows on muck, sedge peat, wet sand or silt, in filtered or full sunlight.
Carex micropoda is a species of sedge found in temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Carex hirtifolia, the pubescent sedge, is a species of sedge native to northeastern North America. It is the only species in Carex section Hirtifoliae. The entire plant is distinctively covered soft hairs.
Carex kobomugi is a species of sedge, known as the Japanese sedge or Asiatic sand sedge, that lives in sandy coastal areas of eastern Asia, and has become an invasive species in the north-eastern United States.
Carex brevior, known as shortbeak sedge and plains oval sedge, is a species of sedge native to North America. The specific epithet brevior means "shorter" in Latin.
Carex arctogena is a member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae) which grows in high alpine areas. It is one of the few "bipolar" species; it has populations in Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Canada and southern South America. Plants in the far north and south appear to be genetically identical, having taken advantage of a similar niches on opposite ends of the globe.
Carex bicolor, the bicoloured sedge, is a species of sedge native to North America, Northern Europe and Northern Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the plant's conservation status as being of least concern because it has a widespread distribution and faces no particular threats.
Carex hostiana, the tawny sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Europe and northeast Canada, and extinct in Massachusetts. It is a member of the Carex flava species complex.
Carex scirpoidea is a species of sedge belonging to the family Cyperaceae. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Carex atrofusca, the dark brown sedge or scorched alpine sedge, is a species of sedge with a circumpolar or circumboreal distribution in the northern hemisphere.
Carex rugulosa, also known as the thick-nerve sedge or the slender-culm thick-nerve sedge, is a tussock-forming perennial in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern parts of Asia.
Carex litorosa, commonly known as sea sedge, is a tussock-forming species of perennial sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to New Zealand.
Carex vestita, also commonly known as velvet sedge, is a tussock-forming species of perennial sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern parts of the United States.
