Carex arctata Boott ex Hook.
Drooping wood sedge, drooping woodland sedge
This species is native to, and common in, New England and eastern Canada.
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Desperately Seeking Carex With close to 800 species in North America, and 2000 worldwide, many Carex species are difficult to identify. You might want to consult this quick guide to Carex anatomy. |
Plants: Occurring in dense tufts, plants are up to 3′ (1 m) high.
Leaves: Basal or nearly so. Grasslike leaves are ⅛–⅜″ (3–10 mm) wide. At the base, they are encased in a sheath that is pink to reddish purple. As is often the case with sedges, younger leaves have an ‘M’ or ‘W’-shaped cross-section.
Flowers: Male (staminate) and female (pistillate) spikes are separate. The topmost spike is unisexual, staminate, ⅞–3 ⨉ 1/16–⅛″ (2.5–8 cm ⨉ 3–4 mm). 2-5 pistillate (also called carpellate) spikes appear lower on the stem. Each spike is up to 3″ (8 cm) long, and slender. Young spikes point upward, but they droop with age.
Fruits: Achenes are ~1/16″ long ⨉ 1/32–1/16″ wide (1.7–2.6 ⨉ 0.8–1.7 mm).
Habitats: Rich, damp forested areas.
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Similar species. |
Online References:
References:
5/18/2016 · Worcester Road, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire 
5/16/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Action, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 4½″ (9.2 × 11 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
5/18/2016 · Worcester Road, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire 
5/16/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Action, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 17 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (21 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/30/2014 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 6″ (12 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/16/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Action, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 6″ (13 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Liliopsida | Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family |
| Subclass | Commelinidae | Dayflowers and spiderworts, and several others |
| Order | Cyperales | Flowering plants including grasses |
| Family | Cyperaceae | Sedge family |
| Genus | Carex | The “true” sedges |
| Species | arctata | From latin arctatus, drawn or pressed close together, compressed, contracted |
Carex arctata description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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