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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Cypress-knee Sedge at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cade6_001_lvd
)
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).
)
Alicia Jackson agj_3843
June Brunswick County NC
)
Alicia Jackson agj_3848_sheath
June Brunswick County NC
)
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.
)
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
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
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!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p290
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p441
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".