categoryZGrasses Grasses List 

DIVIDED SEDGE

Carex divisa

Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae]

month8jul month8july month8aug

category
category8Grasses
 
status
statusZnative
 
flower
flower8brown
male
flower
flower8beetroot
female
petals
petalsZ0
 
type
typeZspiked
short
stem
stem8triangular
rounded
stem
stem8ribbed
 
stem
stem8hollow
 round hole
rarity
rarityZscarce
 
sex
sexZmonoecious
 

Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
Has underground rhizomes which creep some considerable distance and also bears shoots which emerge above ground. The slender, wiry stems are 3-angled with rounded edges and are 10 to 50cm high (up to 80cm high). Feels rough nearing the top. The inflorescence is quite short and clustered.


Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
Inflorescence is oval in shape and often clustered, as here. It is purple-brown in real life; here a decaying specimen. The lowest bract is a long, narrow, green, finely-toothed leaf-like bristle which is usually reaches way above the inflorescence, but not quite here (unless something has shrunk a bit?).

Male flowers are at the tip, the females are below, the lowest often being all female. The female glumes ar 3.5 to 5mm long, purple-brown, oval and have a white mid-rib with margins which are membranous. The tips are abruptly sharply pointed.

The lowest bract is green.

The fruits (none visible here - it is too early) are between 3.5 to 4mm long, ovoidal on one side but flat on the other side



Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
Main stem on left, roundly angled and with many ribs. The leaf sheath on right, which is similar but not circular - its a sheath.


Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
The sheath (aka leaf) again on the right, showing the way it peels off the main stem. The leaves are approx as long as the stems, mid-green and either flat or in-rolled, between 1 to 3mm wide


Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
The tip of a leaf; it is angled for rigidity.


Unknown date, saltmarsh edge, A Quay, IoW. Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone
The base of the stem.


It is found in England northwards to Lancashire and Northumberland, locally common in the South East, but rarer up north. Overall, it is a rare [RR]


  Carex divisa  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Cyperaceae  

Distribution
 family8Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush family8Cyperaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Carex
Carex
(Sedge)

DIVIDED SEDGE

Carex divisa

Sedge Club- & Spike-Rush Family [Cyperaceae]