Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex radfordii
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Radford's Sedge at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
A robust species most closely allied to Carex purpurifera and C. laxiflora. Its long awns, glaucous blue-green blades, and brownish white basal sheaths distinguish it from other species of Carex, per Carex radfordii (Section Laxiflorae: Cyperaceae), a New Species from the Southern Appalachians (Gaddy, 1995).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex radfordii
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
COMMON NAME:
Radford's Sedge
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Alan S. Weakley asw_041921_74594253
April Pickens County SC
Perigynia 3-4.5mm long, obovoid, light green, beak slightly recurved, to 1.5mm long, per Carex radfordii (Section Laxiflorae: Cyperaceae), a New Species from the Southern Appalachians (Gaddy, 1995).
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Alan S. Weakley asw_763413622162480
April SC
Jocassee Gorges
Basal leaf sheaths pale and striped.
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JK Marlow jkm090425_001
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm090425_003
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm140412_927
April Transylvania County NC
Flowering culms erect (vs those of C. laxiflora and C striatula which usually lean over), per Carex radfordii (Section Laxiflorae: Cyperaceae), a New Species from the Southern Appalachians (Gaddy, 1995).
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JK Marlow jkm220421_7073
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
Staminate scales 7-11 × 1.2-2mm, margins hyaline, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm220421_7076
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
Perigynia 3-10 per spike, loosely overlapping, ascending, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm220421_7078
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
Clumps of pale blue-green leaves, per Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007).
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JK Marlow jkm221103_0525
November Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
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JK Marlow jkm221103_0526
November Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm221103_0527
November Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Carex radfordii
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carex radfordii
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
1992
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Very nutrient-rich, moist cove forests in the Blue Ridge Escarpment region, over calcareous or mafic rocks (especially along the Brevard Fault), 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 & low alternate, 3-ranked
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Densely cespitose [growing in dense tufts, clumping]
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Perianth absent
3 stamens
Superior ovary
Unisexual
Inflorescences: spikes (terminal spike staminate; 2-4 lateral spikes pistillate)
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Nutlet
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p130
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p081
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".