Carex vulpinoidea (Common fox sedge)

Carex vulpinoidea Michx.

Common fox sedge, fox sedge

Common fox sedge is native to North America, and introduced in Europe and New Zealand.

Plants: Dense tufts are 1½–3½′ (45–106 cm) tall. Culms are trigonous (three-angled) and mostly smooth.

Leaves: Basal or on the bottom third of the stem, alternate, 3′ tall ⨉ 1/32–⅛″ wide (91 cm ⨉ 1.5–6 mm).

Flowers: Inflorescences are ten to fifteen spikes all jammed together in an overlapping tangle 2½–4″ (7–10 cm) long at the top of the culm. Pistillate (female) spikes are comprised of carpellate scales that are much shorter than the perigynia. The scales have awns up to ⅛″ (3 mm) long. The perigynia are 1/16–⅛″ long ⨉ 1/32–1/16″ (2–3.2 ⨉ 1.3–1.8 mm), and yellow green to light brown.

Fruits: Achenes are ~1/32″ (1.2–1.4 mm) long.

Habitats: Open, moist to wet habitats including wet meadows, wet ditches and along rivers, streams and lakes.

Similar species.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Minnesotawildflowers.info

Go Botany

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. 338

Jenkins, Jerry, Sedges of the Northern Forest: A Photographic Guide (The Northern Forest Atlas Guides), Comstock Publishing Associates, 2019, p. 57

6/22/2021 · Tarbox Preserve, Topsham, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 4″ (7.1 × 10 cm)

6/25/2015 · Far and Near · ≈ 5 × 4″ (12 × 10 cm) ID is uncertain

6/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3″ (12 × 8.4 cm) ID is uncertain

5/31/2010 · Mt. Lebanon St., Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 3″ (10 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain

6/5/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) ID is uncertain

6/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 4½″ (7.5 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

6/25/2015 · Far and Near · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

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	vulpinoidea	Relating to or resembling foxes

About plant names...

Range:

About this map...

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