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Figure 26 - Perigynium |
SEDGE FAMILY (Cyperaceae)
IND. STATUS: OBL
FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A perennial clump-forming sedge with stems about 30 to 100 cm. tall. Leaves generally longer than the stem. The lowest leaves on the stem, however, are reduced to scales (aphyllopodic). Stems are slender and firm with whitish, thin sheaths that are conspicuously cross- wrinkled. The perigynia are lance-ovate and taper into a beak, usually more than 0.7 mm. long.
ECOLOGICAL NOTES: One of our most common sedges, it is a pioneer species tending to colonize wet open sites soon after disturbance. Fox sedge is an excellent colonizer of wetland mitigation sites.
SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); Swink and Wilhelm (1994).