Plantain-leaf sedge is native to New England and nearby Canada in North America.
It prefers rich deciduous forests, on wooded slopes and ravines,
in calcerous soils.
It is often associated with basswood and ferns.
Plants: Grows in dense tufts (cespitose). Culms
(stems) reach up or hang sideways. They are hairless and green. Leaves are all basal,
emerging from a red-purple sheath. Since the leaves are evergreen, plants often appear
beat-up in the spring.
Leaves: Leaves are evergreen, hairless, with a set of three parallel ribs,
6-17″ (14-42 cm) × ¼-1¼″ (8-32 mm). Viewed in cross section, the leaves have a zig-zagged shape.
They often have a rippled appearance, hence the common name “seersucker.” Leaves on the
culms are smaller, reddish purple, and tubular.
Flowers: Each culm contains 2-4 pistillate (female)
spikes and is topped by a single staminate (male) spike. The female spikes are
½-1½″ (1.3-3.8 cm) long, and roughly cylindrical. The male spike is reddish-purple, and
up to ¾″ (1.9 cm) long. Blooming begins in mid-spring.
Fruits: Achenes are about 1/16″ (2.5 mm)
long, ovoid, and 3-angled.