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Carex gynandra Schwein.

Nodding sedge

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassLiliopsidaMonocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
SubclassCommelinidaeDayflowers and spiderworts, and several others
OrderCyperalesFlowering plants including grasses
FamilyCyperaceaeSedge family
GenusCarexThe “true” sedges
SpeciesgynandraSpeculative: “gyn-” is Latin for woman; “andros” for man. This might refer to that male and female flowers occur on separate spikes

About plant names...

These sedges are native to North America.

Plant: Nodding sedge is up to 4½′ (1.4 m) high, though specimens I have seen are a good deal shorter. Stems are triangular in cross section. They usually occur in tufts.

Flowers/seeds: Each stem supports two to five arched, narrow, cylindrical drooping carpellate seed spikes up to 4″ (10 cm) in length and ⅛-¼″ (3-9 mm) in diameter. Each stem also contains up to three staminate spikes.

Leaves: Leaves are U-shaped, grass-like, up to ⅜″ (1 cm) wide.

Carex gynandra is easily confused with, and often found near, C. crinita. “Easily confused” is something of 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.

 

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

6/16/2013 · Birch Point State Park, Owl’s Head, Maine · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 4 × 6″ (10 × 15 cm)

 
Carex arctata

Carex crinita
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Carex gynandra
Common Name

drooping wood sedge

drooping sedge

nodding sedge
Plant Occurring in dense tufts, plants are up to 3′ (1 m) high. Up to 4½′ (1.4 m) tall. Up to 4½′ (1.4 m) tall.
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. Drooping narrow cylindrical heads up to 4½″ (11 cm) long and ¼″ (7 mm) in diameter. Carpellate scales are pale, truncate to notched at apex, with rough-textured awns. 1-3 staminate spikes per stem. 2-5 carpellate narrow, cylindrical spikes per stem. Each spike is ⅞-4″ (2.4-10 cm) long, ⅛-¼″ (3-9 mm) in diameter. Scales on the carpels are pale- to copper brown. There are 1-3 staminate spikes per stem.
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. Younger leaves have an ‘M’ or ‘W’-shaped cross-section. M or U-shaped in cross-section, ⅛-⅜″ (4-10 mm) wide. ⅛-⅜″ (4-10 mm) wide, U-shaped.
Stem   Triangular stem cross-section. Basal leaf sheaths are smooth. Rough-textured, with a triangular cross-section. Basal leaf sheaths are rough.
Fruit Achenes are ~1/16″ long ⨉ 1/32-1/16″ wide (1.7-2.6 ⨉ 0.8-1.7 mm). Perigynia are spreading, slightly inflated obovoid (widest above the middle and truncate), 1/16-⅛″ (2-4 mm) long. Perigynia are oval-shaped, tapering to a small beak.
Range/ Zones

Habitats Rich, damp forested areas. Bottomland prairies, moist upland prairies, margins of bodies of water, spring branches, fens. Marshes, wet forests, swamps, seeps, and roadside ditches. Perhaps a little more weedy and abundant in acidic soils than C. crinita.
Type Wild Wild Wild

 

 
Carex gracillima
Common Name

graceful sedge
Plant 8-36″ (20-91 cm) high.
Flowers A stalk emerging above the leaves, 8-35″ (20-90 cm) long, contains both carpellate (seed-bearing) and staminate (pollen-bearing) flowers, with the carpellate ones uppermost. Each stalk has 2-5 spikes, each on a stem up to 1½″ (4 cm) long. Each spike is 0.0 mils (0 µm) × 0.0 mils (0 µm) in size.
Leaves Basal, ⅛-⅜″ (3-10 mm) wide, and alternate. Leaves may be smooth or rough in texture. A sheath at the base of the plant is often red or purple in color.
Fruit Carpellate spikes form seed clusters called achenes. Each such cluster is wrapped in a perigynium. They appear from late spring to mid-summer.
Range/ Zones

Habitats Common in damp forests and meadows
Type Wild

 

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

Like most Carex, stems are triangular in cross section. This one is rather squashed from cutting.

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

Carpellate spikes (left) are the most prominent. Staminate spikes (right) are smaller and may not persist for as long.

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

The carpellate spike consists of pistillate scales, (left), with awns that have notched tips; and perigynia (right). Each perigynium houses a developing achene (seed). This plant was found in the fall, but in the spring, tiny pistallate (female) flowers emerge, like sinuous filaments, from the beak of perigynium.

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

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:

Www.biodiversitylibrary.org (“A Clarification of the Status of Carex crinita and C. gynandra,” Rhodora, Journal of the New England Botanical Club, 1983, Vol. 85, No. 841)

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The USDA Plants Database

Illinois Wildflowers

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The U.S. Geological Survey's Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

EFloras

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. 376

Knobel, Edward, Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges and Rushes of the United States, Dover Publications Inc., 1980, p. 69

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/12/2020 · Harraseeket Trail, Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

8/22/2020 · Warbler’s Way, Moose Alley, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 8.7 cm) ID is uncertain

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

8/22/2020 · Warbler’s Way, Moose Alley, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/23/2017 · Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

6/21/2017 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

8/22/2020 · Warbler’s Way, Moose Alley, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

Carex crinita Lam. var. gynandra (Schwein.) Schwein. & Torr.

 

Carex gynandra description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 8 Sep 2023.

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Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

6/16/2013 · Birch Point State Park, Owl’s Head, Maine · ≈ 6 × 9″ (15 × 22 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 4 × 6″ (10 × 15 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 3 × 5″ (8.4 × 12 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

6/16/2013 · Birch Point State Park, Owl’s Head, Maine · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

9/18/2016 · Edgar M. Tennis Preserve, Deer I, Maine ID is uncertain

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

9/29/2012 · Franconia Notch Area, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 3 × 4½″ (7.9 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/23/2017 · Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Penn­syl­vania · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

8/8/2015 · Mt. Wachusett · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

7/12/2020 · Harraseeket Trail, Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm)

Carex gynandra (nodding sedge)

8/8/2015 · Mt. Wachusett · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

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