OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-17-013:

Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Carex decomposita

 

COMMON NAME:
Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_cade6_001_lvd

        

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_cade6_003_lvd

        

The branched or twice-compound inflorescence is a key ID character, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

Alicia Jackson    agj_3843

June    Brunswick County    NC

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

Alicia Jackson    agj_3848_sheath

June    Brunswick County    NC

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

Alicia Jackson    agj_7259_

June    Brunswick County    NC

Large, dense tussocks with long flowering stems (culms) that arch outward, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

image of Carex decomposita, Cypress-knee Sedge, Epiphytic Sedge

Alicia Jackson    agj_7276_

June    Brunswick County    NC

The branched inflorescence is distinctive, once learned, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-17-013:
Carex decomposita   FAMILY Cyperaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Carex decomposita

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

3061

Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: blackwater swamp forests, often growing on cypress knees, cypress bases, or fallen logs (often at or near water level), river sloughs, beaver marshes, less typically inland in sloughs or in depressions in bedrock river scour, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal? Alternate, 3-ranked?

RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Densely cespitose [growing in dense tufts, clumping], with short rhizomes

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Perianth absent
3 stamens
Superior ovary
Unisexual

Inflorescences: spikes w both staminate & pistillate flowers (staminate above)

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Brownish
Nutlet

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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