Summary ²

Densely tufted hairless, perennial sedge with short, creeping rhizomes; flowering stems are cylindrical near base and almost triangular in cross section near top, up to 5 cm tall. Leaves: leaf blades c. 1 mm wide, smooth leaf margins. Flowers: flower spike is 6-10 x 5-7 mm, ovoid-globose, 10-16 flowered, usually male near the tip; male glumes 3-3.5 mm long, reddish brown with paler mid-vein; female glumes often fall early, otherwise similar to male but wider and with prominent, pale terminal awn that is quite bract-like in the lower 1-2 flowers and usually much exceeding the spike. Fruit: utricle 3-3.5 mm long, larger than glumes, ovoid and tapering to a beak, greenish brown; dispersed by water; viability in soil 1-5 years.

Native of the Falklands and Chile

Distribution ³

Hansen Valley, Leith Harbour

Comments ³

carex species can be difficult to identify. The native Smith's sedge has a single flower head with obvious hooked bristles extending from each flower.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Sally Poncet, all rights reserved, uploaded by Sally Poncet
2. Adapted by stuwhiterod from a work by (c) Kelvin Floyd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
3. (c) Kelvin Floyd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• World Flora Online

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