Carex folliculata (Northern long sedge)

Carex folliculata L.

Northern long sedge

Northern long sedge is native to eastern, mostly northeasern, North America.

Plants: Culms are trigonous—roughly triangular—in cross section. They are 1–5½′ (40–175 cm) tall.

Leaves: W-shaped to flat, ⅛–¾″ (6–21 mm) wide.

Flowers: Inflorescences are 6–33″ (15–85 cm) long. A staminate (male) spike tops the culm. Three to five pistillate (female) spikes are spread quite sparsely along the culm. Each pistillate spike is comprised of carpellate scales and perigynia. The scales are about two-thirds the length of each perigynium. Perigynia are ⅜–½″ long ⨉ ¼″ wide (1–1.6 cm ⨉ 8 mm).

Fruits: Achenes are ~⅛ ⨉ 1/32–1/16″ (3.4–4 ⨉ 1.5–2.3 mm). They appear in late spring to summer.

Habitats: Wet forests, bogs, seeps, wet meadows, marsh edges, stream banks, lakeshores, in acidic, sandy, or peaty soils, at elevations below 1.1 mi (1.8 km).

Similar species.

Online References:

Go Botany

Flora of North America

References:

Arsenault, Matt; Mittelhauser, Glen H.; Cameron, Don; Dibble, Alison C.; Haines, Arthur; Rooney, Sally C.; and Weber, Jill E., Sedges of Maine: A Field Guide to Cyperaceae, University of Maine Press, 2013, p. 446

Jenkins, Jerry, Sedges of the Northern Forest: A Photographic Guide (The Northern Forest Atlas Guides), Comstock Publishing Associates, 2019, p. 68

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 16 cm)

6/22/2023 · Florida Lake Park, Freeport, Maine

5/21/2013 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 6″ (16 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

6/27/2025 · Butler Head Preserve, Bath, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (12 × 19 cm)

6/26/2024 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 18 cm)

6/27/2025 · Butler Head Preserve, Bath, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm)

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

8/3/2025 · Saco Heath Preserve, Saco, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 5″ (11 × 13 cm)

6/27/2025 · Butler Head Preserve, Bath, Maine · ≈ 4 × 5″ (10 × 13 cm)

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm)

8/3/2025 · Saco Heath Preserve, Saco, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

8/3/2025 · Saco Heath Preserve, Saco, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 17 cm)

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	folliculata	From Latin folliculus, ”little bag, inflated ball,“ for the perigynia

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Range:

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Carex folliculata description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.