Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (10/20/20):
Carex decomposita
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
NEW! Click to 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.
)
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 (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
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
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
NEW! Click here to see a map from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US showing range and abundance.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal? Alternate, 3-ranked?
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Densely cespitose [growing in dense tufts, clumping], with short rhizomes
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Unisexual
Perianth absent
3 stamens
Superior ovary
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!