Carex prairea Dewey

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Cyperaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Carex prairea Dewey

  • Description

    Species Description - Stems clustered, aphyllopodic, 5–10 dm, somewhat exceeding the lvs; main lvs 2–3 mm wide; sheaths prolonged 2–3 mm beyond the base of the blade, strongly coppery toward the mouth ventrally; spikes androgynous, numerous, small, sessile, aggregated into a thick- spiciform infl, this 3–8 cm, usually interrupted below, compound, at least the lowest node with 2 or 3 spikes; scales reddish-brown, lance-ovate, as long as and largely concealing the ± appressed perigynia, these brown, dull, lance-ovate, 2.5–3 mm, half as wide, tapering to a serrulate, pale beak nearly as long as the body, flat to low-convex and nearly nerveless ventrally, broadly rounded and strongly few-nerved dorsally, the main nerves divergent well above the base; 2n=66. Swamps, wet meadows, and wet prairies; Que. to Sask., s. to N.J., O., and Io. (C. diandra var. ramosa)