Woodland Sedge (Carex blanda)
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: April-July.
- Field Marks: The male flowers are borne in separate spikes from the female. The short beak of the perigynium, which is not 2-cleft, is bent to one side.
- Habitat: Wet woods, along rivers and streams.
- Habit: Perennial herb with slightly thickened rootstocks.
- Stems: Erect, smooth pale green, up to 15 inches tall, not purplish at the base.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, usually shorter than the flowering stem, pale green, smooth, up to 1/2 inch broad.
- Flowers: Male and female flowers borne in separate spikelets; the male flowers in separate narrow spikes up to 1 inch long and borne on a very short stalk; the female flowers crowded in 2-4 spikes, the upper ones sessile, the lower 1-2 on slender stalks.
- Scales: Ovate, white along the edges, green down the middle, pointed at the tip or even awned, shorter than the perigynia.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Enclosed in a perigynium; the perigynium obovoid, tapering to a short, bent, toothless tip. smooth, veiny, up to 1/8 inch long.
- Fruits: Achenes triangular, smooth.
- Notes: The achenes are sometimes eaten by waterfowl. The leaves may be grazed by deer.
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