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Introduction
Fox sedge is a perennial, tufted species of sedge that is a widespread species in North America, found in almost every US state, and many Canadian provinces. In British Columbia it is found across the southern part of the province in wet meadows, swamps, marshes, and streambanks.
In his rare plants of the Fraser Valley, Lomer (2011) says: "This densely leafy sedge is occasionally encountered in low wet sites from Vancouver to Chilliwack. Recorded from 8 sites in Greater Vancouver, it is most frequent between Abbotsford and Chilliwack (UBC: Faris 142). It does well in wet grassy clearings such as ditchbanks and road verges, is somewhat adapted to disturbance, and is not really threatened by development unless there is wholesale removal of the natural vegetation." Extracted from Botanical Electronic News #432, January 2011, with permission.
Species Information
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expanded illustration for this species.
General: Perennial, tufted herb from short, stout rootstocks; stems 20-100 cm tall, usually a few together, roughened on the angles above, usually shorter than the leaves.
Leaves: Sheaths cross-wrinkled; blades 4 to 5 per stem, borne on the lower 1/2, or sometimes the lower 3/4 of the stem, flat or nearly so, 2-5 mm wide, the lower ones much reduced.
Flowers: Spikes numerous, densely aggregated into a linear to cylindrical, 2-15 cm long head, more or less separate below, egg-shaped, 2-3 cm long, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the male flowers towards the tips; bracts hairlike, 8-10 cm long below, 2-2.5 cm long above, conspicuous throughout the inflorescence.
Fruits: Perigynia egg-shaped, 2-3.5 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, plano-convex, faintly nerved, spreading, yellowish-green to straw-coloured, smooth, very short-stalked, finely toothed above, the beaks 1/2 to fully the length of the bodies, bidentate; female scales egg-shaped, equalling or slightly shorter than the perigynia, brownish, the midribs greenish, prolonged into awns, the margins translucent; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, smooth, 1.3-1.6 mm long.
Wet meadows, swamps, marshes, and streambanks in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; rare in S BC; E to NF and S to ME, MA, PA, NC, FL, MS, TX, NM, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
