Carex tenera Dewey
tender sedge (quill sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
tender sedge (quill sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 20-70 cm tall, exceeding the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths tight; blades flat, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, borne on the lower 1/3 of the stem.
Flowers:
Spikes 4 to 10 in a long, loose inflorescence, 2.5-5 cm long, unstalked, with both female and male flowers, the female ones towards the tips; bracts subtending the spikes sheathless, reduced, inconspicuous.
Fruits:
Perigynia lanceolate or narrowly egg-shaped, 3-4.5 mm long, 1.5-1.8 mm wide, light green to straw-coloured or brownish, more or less flattened, the margins winged nearly to the bases, the upper 1/2 fringed with teeth, strongly nerved on both sides, the beaks shallowly bidentate, about 1 mm long, narrowly margined and toothed below; female scales egg-shaped, brownish with green centres and translucent margins, somewhat shorter and narrower than the perigynia, short-awned; stigmas 2; achenes lens-shaped, 1.2-1.4 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry meadows, shorelines and open forests in the steppe and montane zones; rare throughout BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to PQ, NB and NS and S to ME, MA, NC, GA, AL, AR, NE, and NM.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex tenera var. echinodes (Fernald) Wiegand