Carex viridula Michx.
Greenish Sedge (green sedge; little green sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Greenish Sedge (green sedge; little green sedge)
Cyperaceae (Sedge family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Carex viridula ssp. viridula
Species Information
General:
Perennial, densely tufted herb from fibrous roots; stems 10-40 cm tall, longer than the leaves.
Leaves:
Sheaths pale below; blades 4 to 8 per stem, channeled, borne on the lower 1/2 of the stem, 1-3 mm wide, the lower ones reduced.
Flowers:
Spikes 3 to 7, the terminal unstalked or short-stalked, linear, 7-21 mm long, with male flowers (rarely some female flowers), the lower spikes 2 to 6, erect, cylindrical, 5-11 mm long, many-flowered, with female flowers (sometimes the upper with male flowers at the tips), unstalked or nearly so; bracts subtending the female spikes conspicuous, leaflike, 4-9 cm long, much exceeding the inflorescence, the sheaths 2-20 mm long, the upper bracts shorter.
Fruits:
Perigynia egg-shaped to elliptical, mostly spreading, 2-3.2 mm long, 1.2-1.3 mm wide, yellowish-green to green, smooth, several-nerved, the beaks shortly bidentate, about 1/3 as long as the bodies of the perigynia; female scales egg-shaped, pointed, short-awned at the tips, shorter than the perigynia, reddish, with greenish midribs and narrow translucent margins; stigmas 3; achenes 3-angled, smooth, 1.4-1.9 mm long.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Carex viridula
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)
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)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
779 | 0 | 1680 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 70 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
139 | 0 | 295 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 4 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
68 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(1), CDF(4), CWH(32), ESSF(5), ICH(6), IDF(9), MS(7), SBPS(1), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Swamps, bogs, lakeshores and wet meadows in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in S BC, less frequent northward; amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, MA, PA, OH, IN, IL, MN, SD, NM, UT, NV and CA; E Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Carex viridula var. viridula Michx. [superfluous autonym]