Carex gracillima Schwein.
Graceful sedge
Graceful sedge is common in damp forests and meadows, native throughout central and eastern North America.
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Desperately Seeking Carex With close to 800 species in North America, and 2000 worldwide, many Carex species are difficult to identify. You might want to consult this quick guide to Carex anatomy. |
Plants: Graceful sedge really is rather graceful, with long drooping spikes that emerge above the grasslike leaves. 8–36″ (20–91 cm) high.
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.
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 ⅜–2½ ⨉ 1/16–⅛″ (1–7 cm ⨉ 2–3.5 mm) in size.
Fruits: Carpellate spikes form seed clusters called achenes. Each such cluster is wrapped in a perigynium. They appear from late spring to mid-summer.
Habitats: Common in damp forests and meadows.
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Similar species. |
Online References:
Carex gracillima Schwein. var. macerrima Fernald & Wiegand
6/1/2013 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 14 cm) 
6/13/2021 · Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
5/24/2021 · Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 4″ (7 × 10 cm) 
5/25/2023 · Maquoit Bay Conservation Land, Brunswick, Maine 
5/25/2023 · Maquoit Bay Conservation Land, Brunswick, Maine 
5/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 12″ (20 × 31 cm) 
5/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 1′ (62 × 41 cm) 
5/24/2021 · Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 4″ (7 × 10 cm) 
6/13/2021 · Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4½″ (14 × 11 cm) 
| 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 | gracillima | Most graceful or slender |
Carex gracillima description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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