Carex douglasii
Encyclopedia
Carex douglasii is a species of sedge
known by the common name Douglas' sedge.
. It grows in dry, wet, and seasonally moist habitat, from prairie
and grassland to marsh
es. It is tolerant of sandy and alkaline substrates.
s. The leaves are thick but narrow and sometimes rolled. The plant is dioecious
, with male and female flowers occurring on different individuals. The pistillate
inflorescence is distinctive, with female flowers bearing long, protruding, persistent stigmas that tangle together into a wide mass.
Carex
Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...
known by the common name Douglas' sedge.
Distribution
It is native to much of western North America, including the western Canadian provinces, the western United States, and Baja CaliforniaBaja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. It grows in dry, wet, and seasonally moist habitat, from prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
and grassland to marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es. It is tolerant of sandy and alkaline substrates.
Description
Carex douglasii is a sedge producing triangular stems up to about 40 centimeters high from thin rhizomeRhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s. The leaves are thick but narrow and sometimes rolled. The plant is dioecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, with male and female flowers occurring on different individuals. The pistillate
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
inflorescence is distinctive, with female flowers bearing long, protruding, persistent stigmas that tangle together into a wide mass.