The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large; botanists have described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genera – the largest being the "true sedges", with over 2,000 species.
Carex is a vast genus of over 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 pauciflora, the few-flowered sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to bogs and fens in cool temperate, subarctic, and mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The specific epithet pauciflora refers to the Latin term for 'few flowered'.
Carex magellanica subsp. irrigua is a perennial species of plants in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic wetlands. Common names include poor sedge, bog sedge and boreal bog sedge.
Eriophorum vaginatum, the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is a 30–60 cm high tussock-forming plant with solitary spikes.
Carex obnupta is a species of sedge known by the common name slough sedge.
Scirpus ancistrochaetus is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names barbedbristle bulrush and northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire south to Virginia. It used to be found in Quebec but it is now thought to be extirpated there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Carex distans, commonly known as distant sedge, is a plant species in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is native to Europe and North Africa. It is part of a complex of similar species that occur across Eurasia. Its relatives include Carex diluta of central Asia, which has also been introduced to North America in Montana. Carex distans has been introduced to US states including Maryland and Pennsylvania. More recently, it was found in Oregon. There is a report from Victoria, Australia as well.
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 exilis, common name coastal sedge or meager sedge, is a species of grass-like plant in the Cyperaceae family. It is native to North America and Canada, with several disjunct populations from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Carex bromoides, known as brome-like sedge, brome-sedge, and dropseed of the woods, is a species of sedge in the genus Carex. It is native to North America.
Carex viridula, known as little green sedge, green sedge, or greenish sedge, is a small flowering plant native to North America, Europe, Asia, and Morocco.
Carex flava, called hedgehog grass or large yellow sedge, is a widespread species of sedge, native to the northern United States, Canada, Iceland, Europe, the Atlas Mountains in Africa, the Transcaucasus area, and parts of Siberia. It is a synonym of the Carex flava species complex.
Carex loliacea is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae.
Carex hendersonii, also known as Henderson's sedge or carex de Henderson, is a tussock-forming species of perennial sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to western parts of North America.
Carex bullata is a tussock-forming species of perennial sedge in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to south eastern parts of Canada and eastern parts of the United States. It has the common name of the button sedge.
Carex folliculata, the northern long sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern Canada, and the eastern United States. A clumping perennial reaching 150 cm (5 ft) but usually shorter, it has broad, yellowish-green leaves. An obligate wetland species, it is found in a wide variety of wet habitats from sea level up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft), and can handle acidic, neutral, and basic conditions.
Carex scabrata, the eastern rough sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States, with one collection each in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. A perennial reaching 90 cm (3 ft), it is found it wet areas with rich soils, particularly on seepage slopes.
Carex prasina, the drooping sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to eastern Canada, and the north-central and eastern United States. It is usually found growing in rich soils in deciduous forests, typically in wet places such as streamsides, seeps, springs and fens.
Eriophorum virginicum, the tawny cottongrass, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern North America but was introduced into both British Columbia and Washington in western North America. It is most common in eastern Canada, New England, and the Great Lakes region. It is the only species of Eriophorum in North America that occurs in the southeastern United States, where it is uncommon. The common name refers to the tawny color of its fruiting head. Despite the name, it is a sedge, not a grass, and it is sometimes called tawny cottonsedge to emphasize this fact.
