Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex socialis
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
C. socialis differs from its closest relative, C. radiata (the default "star sedge" of floodplains), by its elongate and tough, horizontal, knotty rhizomes, thus forming spreading colonies. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex socialis
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
COMMON NAME:
Low Woodland Sedge
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Keith Bradley kab_237135655451642
April SC
Beak of perigynium serrulate; pistillate scales obtuse, persistent. Perigynia 4-5× long as wide, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
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Keith Bradley kab_6044732498976899
April SC
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Bruce A. Sorrie bas_c_socialis3ehab
May Bladen County NC
Roadside
Culms arise scattered along creeping rhizomes [not in tight clumps], per Weakley's Flora (2020).
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Bruce A. Sorrie bas_c_socialis9e
May Bladen County NC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex socialis
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex socialis
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
4381
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: blackwater and brownwater swamp forests and bottomlands, forested seepage areas, 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.
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?
FLOWER:
Spring
Perianth absent
3 stamens
Superior ovary
Unisexual
Inflorescences: spikes (consistently androgynous, occ. some laterals pistillate)
FRUIT:
Nutlet
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
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".
Or try alternate spellings: If "wooly" doesn't work, try "woolly" or just "wool".