Larger Straw Sedge (Carex normalis)
- Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae)
- Flowering: May-July.
- Field Marks: The male flowers are located below the female flowers. This species has spikelets one above the other and barely overlapping. The perigynia are ovate.
- Habitat: Wet woods, swamps, along streams, around ponds, wet prairies.
- Habit: Perennial herb with thickened rootstocks.
- Stems: Erect or spreading, triangular, rough to the touch, up to 3 1/2 feet tall.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, shorter than the stems, smooth, up to 1/6 inch broad.
- Flowers: Male and female borne separately; the male flowers crowded at the base of the female spikelets; each female spikelet usually one above the other and barely overlapping, up to 1/2 inch long.
- Scales: Ovate, more or less rounded at the tip, up to 1/8 inch long.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Enclosed in a perigynium; the perigynium flat, ovate, up to 1/4 inch long, with a short 2-toothed beak.
- Fruits: Achenes smooth, about 1/16 inch long.
- Notes: The achenes are eaten by waterfowl.
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