Grasses List |
Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae] |
category
status
flower
(bisexual)inner
petals
type
stem
rarity
sex
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
It grows to 45cm long - the roots are just before the toes of the boot, the plant here with some yellowish-green leaves whilst others are a brighter green than surrounding plants.. |
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
This is near the top of it; note that it only has one floret, and that is flat with a short, tight inflorescence with now-browned branches on alternate sides of the main stem. And a few long narrow leaves each side. |
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
The now-brown florets alternately opposite. |
2012, Teesdale | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
It is NOT a true sedge (it is one of the two Flat-sedges), and that is why there is only one flower spike - which is bisexual (and not 3 or 4 independant spikes of male and female flowers as it is for the true sedges). For a start, the STEMS are not triangular in cross-section as they are for True Sedges, but rather they are thin and grass-like - looking much more like grass leaves rather than stems (hence the 'flat' moniker of 'Flat Sedge') . These flat stems also feel rough to the touch. The flowers are in one! short spike with long pale-coloured anthers and styles. |
2012, Teesdale | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
The spikelets are in two rows of opposite pairsand are between 4 and 10mm long and number from 10 to 20 and are reddish-brown.
The very lowest spikelet is the odd one out looking more like a leafy bract or similar to a glume. This specimen has a long thin green object protruding far out. |
2012, Teesdale | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
Being bisexual the numerous curly white objects protruding from the tip of each spikelet must be the styles (and anthers?), but your Author cannot tell which is which. The nut fruit is between 1.5 to 2mm long, but your Author cannot see any. |
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
The stem with a few leafy branches. |
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
The stems and leaves have vertical rows of very short whitish pimples which make it feel slightly rough to the touch. |
21st July 2018, Green Beach, Ainsdale, Sefton Coast | Photo: © RWD |
The very short hairs in vertical lines are probably made of silicon dioxide, SiO2, which is what sand contains (amongst a few other minerals). |
It is native and grows in damp grassland and salt-marshes inland of the sea, or no bare ground beside the sea. Also on dune-slacks amongst grass. It is only locally frequent on the coasts of Britain and Ireland but common in West Scotland. Beware of the similar Saltmarsh Flat-Sedge (Blysmus rufus) which also grows in saltmarshes near the sea. This too has spikelets on opposite sides, but there are usually fewer of them, only 3 to 8 (rather than the 10 to 20 of Flat-sedge)
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Blysmus | compressus | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Cyperaceae |
Blysmus (Flat-Sedges) |
Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae] |