Carex praegracilis

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Carex praegracilis
Carexpraegracilis1.jpg
At Point Mugu State Park in California
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Carex
Section: Carex sect. Divisae
Species:
C. praegracilis
Binomial name
Carex praegracilis
Synonyms

Carex camporum

Carex praegracilis is a species of North American sedge known as clustered field sedge, field sedge, and expressway sedge. [1] Carex praegracilis is cultivated in the specialty horticulture trade as lawn substitute and meadow-like plantings. [2]

Contents

Distribution

This sedge is native to much of North America, from Alaska across southern Canada and throughout the continental United States, from California to Maine, except for the southeastern region.

Description

Carex praegracilis grows in wet and seasonally wet environments in a number of habitats, including meadows and wetlands. It tolerates disturbed habitat such as roadsides and thrives in alkaline substrates. Carex praegracilis produces sharply triangular stems up 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall from a network of thin, coarse rhizomes.

The inflorescence is a dense, somewhat cylindrical array of flower spikes up to 4 or 5 cm (1.6 or 2.0 in) long. The plant is often dioecious, with an individual bearing male or female flowers in its inflorescences, but not both. The range of this sedge is spreading, especially along roadsides where the application of road salt has apparently encouraged its growth. [3] [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Carex hoodii</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Carex luzulina</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Carex mertensii</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Carex molesta</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex molesta is a species of sedge known by the common name troublesome sedge. It is native to eastern and central North America, where it grows in varied wet and dry habitats, performs equally well in full sun and partial shade, including disturbed areas such as roadsides. It is an introduced species and often a weed in California.

<i>Carex neurophora</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex neurophora is a species of sedge known by the common name alpine nerve sedge. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in wet mountain habitat such as meadows and streambanks. This sedge produces stems up to about 60 centimeters tall and inflorescences which are dense, oblong clusters of indistinguishable spikes of flowers.

<i>Carex obnupta</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Carex leporina</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex leporina is a species of sedge known in the British Isles as oval sedge and in North America as eggbract sedge. It is native to Eurasia and eastern and western North America, where it grows in seasonally wet habitat, such as meadows and fields. This sedge produces many thin stems and narrow leaves. The inflorescence is an open cluster of several flower spikes. The pistillate flower has a reddish or brownish bract with a gold center and white tip.

<i>Carex pachystachya</i> Species of plant

Carex pachystachya is a species of sedge known by the common name Chamisso sedge.

<i>Carex pellita</i> Species of plant

Carex pellita is a species of sedge known by the common name woolly sedge.

<i>Carex praticola</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex praticola is a species of sedge known by the common name meadow sedge. It is native to most of northern North America, including most of Canada and the northernmost United States. It grows in many habitat types from wet to dry, including moist mountain meadows and woodlands. This sedge produces dense clumps of stems approaching a meter in maximum height. The inflorescence is an erect or nodding cluster of several flower spikes in color light greenish or brown to white. The fruit is covered in a perigynium which is white to cream, sometimes with a coppery center, and translucent.

<i>Carex rossii</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex rossii, commonly known as Ross's sedge, is a hardy species of sedge that is often a pioneer species in areas with little or no established vegetation, or in places where disturbance has occurred. Ross's sedge grows in a variety of habitats throughout much of western North America, from Alaska to Ontario, south to New Mexico and California. It flowers in May and June.

<i>Carex scoparia</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex scoparia is a species of sedge known by the common names broom sedge and pointed broom sedge. It should not be confused with the unrelated grass species known as "broom sedge," Andropogon virginicus.

Carex sheldonii is a species of sedge known by the common name Sheldon's sedge.

<i>Carex simulata</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex simulata is a species of sedge known by the common name analogue sedge.

<i>Carex vesicaria</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, inflated sedge, and blister sedge. It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America.

<i>Carex vulpinoidea</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex vulpinoidea is a species of sedge known as fox sedge and American fox-sedge. It is native to North America, including most of Canada, the Dominican Republic, the United States and parts of Mexico. It is known in Europe and New Zealand as an introduced species. The sedge lives in wet and seasonally wet habitat, and grows easily as a roadside weed. It produces clumps of stems up to a meter tall. The inflorescence is a dense, tangled cluster of many flower spikes up to about 10 cm (3.9 in) long. Tolerates fluctuating water levels and periods of drying.

<i>Carex lutea</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex lutea is a rare species of sedge known by the common names golden sedge and sulphur sedge. It is endemic to North Carolina, where it is known only from Pender and Onslow Counties in the Cape Fear River watershed. There are nine populations. The plant was discovered in 1991 and described to science as a new species in 1994, and it has not been thoroughly studied nor completely surveyed yet. Its rarity was obvious by 2002, however, when it was federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Carex rariflora</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex rariflora, the looseflower alpine sedge, is a species of plant in the sedge family. It is found in the United States in Alaska and Maine, and in Canada in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In these regions, it is ranked as an obligate hydrophyte in establishing wetland areas. It prefers wet environments such as open bogs, meadows, seepage slopes, and low-elevation heath tundra. This perennial grass, which can be up to 3 feet tall, has fibrous roots, and holds all perennial organs underground. The leaves are alternate, long, narrow, and simple, with parallel veins. They grow in dense clusters, and the dead leaves are found at the base of the plant. The plant blooms and fruits in the summer. All flowers are monoecious and unisexual, producing a spike inflorescence. All inflorescences are subtended by shorter, proximal bracts.

References

  1. USDA Plants Profile: Carex praegracilis
  2. "Clustered Field Sedge, Carex praegracilis".
  3. Jepson Manual Treatment - Carex praegracilis
  4. Flora of North America
  5. Illinois Wildflowers Archived June 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine