Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

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Carex pensylvanica Lam.

Pennsylvania sedge, Penn sedge, early sedge, common oak sedge, yellow sedge

Pennsylvania sedge is native to eastern North America.

Plants: Shade-loving perennials have culms with triangular cross-sections up to 1½′ (45 cm) in height. They form small loose tufts.

Leaves: 1/32–⅛″ (1–3 mm) wide.

Flowers: A staminate spike ⅜–⅞″ (1–2.5 cm) long is at the top. Carpellate scales are dark purple brown, with white scales. Three shorter pistillate spikes are below, each of which has 4 to 12 florets. Staminate (male) spikes produce cream-colored anthers that age to light brown, while pistillate (female) spikes create long, serpentine white threadlike styles. The pistillate spikes have four to twelve perigynia, each 1/16–⅛ ⨉ ~1/32″ (2.5–3.4 ⨉ 1.1–1.5 mm) in size. Flowers appear from April to June.

Fruits: Achenes are 1/32–1/16 ⨉ ~1/32″ (1.3–2.3 ⨉ 0.9–1.4 mm).

Habitats: Thickets and dry woodlands with dappled sunlight.

Similar species.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Go Botany

North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

Wikipedia

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. 106

Jenkins, Jerry, Sedges of the Northern Forest: A Photographic Guide (The Northern Forest Atlas Guides), Comstock Publishing Associates, 2019, p. 41

Carex marginata Willd.
Carex pensylvanica Lam. var. glumabunda Peck
Carex pensylvanica Lam. var. marginata (Willd.) Dewey
Carex pensylvanica Lam. var. vespertina L.H. Bailey
Carex stolonifera Schwein.

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain

4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

5/18/2026 · Cliff Trail, Harpswell, Maine ID is uncertain

4/27/2013 · Bemis Rd, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 5″ (14 × 13 cm)

5/16/2024 · Ridge Trail, Freeport, Maine

5/6/2021 · Tarbox Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 8 × 6″ (21 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

5/10/2024 · Sayles Field Preserve, Freeport, Maine

4/27/2013 · Bemis Rd, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 4″ (12 × 10 cm) ID is uncertain

5/2/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 10 × 15″ (26 × 39 cm)

4/21/2013 · Crow Hill Trail, Leominster State Forest, Leominster, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

5/2/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 4″ (7.9 × 10 cm)

5/13/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts

5/12/2022 · Tom and Susan’s, Topsham, Maine

4/21/2013 · Crow Hill Trail, Leominster State Forest, Leominster, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 2½″ (5.4 × 6.8 cm) ID is uncertain

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 3½″ (7.9 × 9.7 cm) ID is uncertain

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2½ × 3½″ (6.7 × 9.2 cm) ID is uncertain

5/16/2024 · Ridge Trail, Freeport, Maine

5/2/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 2½″ (8.5 × 7 cm)

5/6/2021 · Tarbox Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 4 × 3½″ (9.9 × 8.9 cm) ID is uncertain

4/27/2013 · Bemis Rd, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 9″ (22 × 24 cm) ID is uncertain

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 2½″ (6 × 6.7 cm) ID is uncertain

5/18/2026 · Cliff Trail, Harpswell, Maine ID is uncertain

5/16/2024 · Ridge Trail, 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	pensylvanica	Of or from Pennsylvania

About plant names...

Range: Zones 3-8:

About this map...

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