Seersucker or Plantainleaf Sedge
Carex plantaginea
This native perennial sedge consists of rosettes of basal leaves, from which flowering stalks (culms) about 1-2' long occasionally develop. The culms ascend upward or they hang sideways at maturity; they are hairless and green. The basal leaves are up to 12" long and 1¼" (3 cm.) across; they are dark green, widely spreading to ascending, hairless, and evergreen. The upper surface of each basal leaf has a prominent midrib and 2 lateral veins that are also conspicuous. The leaves along the culms are reduced to reddish purple sheaths that are tubular in shape.
The inflorescence consists of 2-4 pistillate (female) spikelets and a terminal staminate (male) spikelet; these spikelets are erect to ascending and rather widely spaced apart along the culm. Each pistillate spikelet is longer than the tip of the sheath-like bract underneath it. The staminate spikelet is reddish purple and up to ¾" long; it has a peduncle that is about as long as the spikelet. Each pistillate spikelet is about ½–1½" long and somewhat cylindrical in shape; it consists of about 4-12 perigynia and their scales.
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