Broom Sedge (Carex scoparia)
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: May-July.
- Field Marks: This sedge is characterized by its lanceolate perigynia with a narrow, whitish margin and its partially overlapping, pointed spikelets.
- Habitat: Wet prairies, roadside ditches, around ponds.
- Habit: Perennial herb with thickened rootstocks.
- Stems: Erect, slender, rough to the touch, up to 2 1/2 feet tall.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, smooth, up to 1/8 inch broad.
- Flowers: Male and female borne separately; the male at the base of the female spikelets; the female spikelets partially overlapping, oblongoid, pointed at the tip, up to 2/3 inch long.
- Scales: Lanceolate, pointed at the tip, smooth, shorter than the perigynia.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Enclosed in a perigynium; each perigynium lanceolate, narrowed to a finely toothed tip, with a narrow, whitish margin, up to 1/4 inch long.
- Fruits: Achenes flat, about 1/16 inch long.
- Notes: The choice of the common name, broom sedge, is an extremely poor one, since this plant is totally unrelated to the common broom sedge grass.
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