Carex crinita Lam.
Drooping sedge, long-haired sedge, fringed sedge
These sedges are native to North America. They have an affinity for wet, freshwater soils.
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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: Drooping sedges are up to 4½′ (1.4 m) high, though I rarely see them that large, with stems that are triangular in cross-section. They usually appear in tufts.
Flowers/seeds: Each stem supports 3-5 narrow, cylindrical drooping carpellate seed spikes up to 4½″ (11 cm) in length and ¼″ (7 mm) in diameter. Tiny, white, filament-like flowers are visible on the carpellate spikes in Photo 6. The precise shape of the perigynia and pistillate scales on the carpellate spikes are an identifying feature. Each stem also contains up to 3 staminate spikes. Although past their prime, you can make out the male pollen-bearing structures on the staminate spikes in Photo 11.
Leaves: Leaves are ribbed, grass-like, M- or U-shaped in cross section, up to ⅜″ (1 cm) wide.
Habitats: Bottomland prairies, moist upland prairies, margins of bodies of water, spring branches, fens.
Carex crinita is easily confused with, and often found near, C. gynandra. “Easily confused” is an understatement: distinguishing these species requires a hand lens or scanner and a penchant for obscure botanical terminology. Scholarly papers have been written to provide evidence that they really are different.
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Species comparisons. |
Representative perigynia, achenes, and scales. Carex crinita (left): pistillate scale (a), perigynium (b), achene (g); C. gynandra (right): pistillate scale (c), perigynium (d), achenes (e, g). Standley, Lisa A., “A Clarification of the Status of Carex crinita and C. gynandra,” Rhodora, Journal of the New England Botanical Club, 1983, Vol. 85, No. 841. 
Online References:
References:
1 · 9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) 
2 · 6/2/2010 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 12″ (23 × 31 cm) 
3 · 6/22/2023 · Florida Lake Park, Freeport, Maine 
4 · 6/19/2024 · Red Rose Preserve, Bowdoinham, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm) 
5 · 6/2/2010 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 11″ (23 × 28 cm) 
6 · 5/20/2012 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (14 × 22 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
7 · 6/9/2025 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) ID is uncertain 
8 · 5/31/2016 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
9 · 6/19/2024 · Red Rose Preserve, Bowdoinham, Maine · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 14 cm) 
10 · 7/19/2020 · Heath Trail, Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
11 · 5/31/2016 · J. Harry Rich State Forest, Pepperell, Massachusetts 
12 · 7/19/2020 · Heath Trail, Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm) 
13 · 6/22/2023 · Florida Lake Park, Freeport, Maine 
| 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 | crinita | “Long-haired” |
Carex crinita description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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