Description: This native perennial
sedge is about 2–2½' tall with unbranched culms. Sometimes it is
tufted at the base with multiple culms, otherwise its culms are solitary;
vegetative shoots may be present as well. Each mature culm has several
alternate leaves; it is triangular and hairless. The leaf blades are up to 14"
long and 1/3" (10 mm.) across; they are ascending to widely spreading and
recurved. Each blade is medium to dark green, glabrous, and often channeled
along its length in the middle. The inner side of each leaf sheath is pale
white and membranous, while the remaining sides are green. The sheath is
hairless throughout and concave at the upper mouth. Each culm terminates in an
inflorescence consisting of 1-2 pistillate spikelets and a single staminate
spikelet. Each pistillate spikelet consists of a globoid cluster of perigynia
that radiate in all directions; each pistillate spikelet spans about
1–1½" across and its appearance is spiky. Each perigynium is about
12-18 mm. long and 4-8 mm. across; it is ellipsoid-lanceoloid in shape,
tapering gradually to a long beak at its apex, while its bottom is
wedge-shaped. The outer surface of the perigynium can be glabrous or finely
pubescent, and there are several longitudinal veins that run along its length.
The pistillate scales are about one-half the length of the perigynia; they are
more or less ovate and sometimes awned. Each pistillate spikelet is supported
by a short stiff peduncle up to 1½" long. At the base of this peduncle,
there is a leafy bract that resembles the blades of the leaves. The staminate
spikelet is about 1-6 cm. in length; it is narrow and straight. The staminate
spikelet is located next to the uppermost pistillate spikelet or a little above
it on a short peduncle. The blooming period can occur from late spring to
mid-summer. Immature spikelets are light green, but they later become yellowish
to dark brown. Within each perigynium, there is an achene that is obovoid and
bluntly 3-angled. The root system is fibrous and rhizomatous.
Cultivation: Gray's Sedge is typically found in
partial sun to medium shade and wet to moist conditions. The soil should be
loamy or silty and contain abundant organic matter. Temporary flooding is
tolerated.
Range &
Habitat: This sedge is occasional to locally common in most areas of
Illinois; it may be less common in NW Illinois than elsewhere (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include wet to moist deciduous woodlands, swamps, low shaded
areas along streams or rivers, and shady seeps. Occasionally, this species
spreads to adjacent mesic areas of woodlands, but this habitat is less typical
for this sedge.
Faunal
Associations: The wind-pollinated flowers of this and other Carex
spp. (Sedges) attract few insects. Various insects feed on the foliage of
sedges, including several butterflies, skippers, and moths (see
Lepidoptera Table). The
seeds of sedges are a fairly important food source for various waterfowl,
rails, upland gamebirds, and granivorous songbirds (see
Bird Table); exactly how
important depends on the sedge and its habitat. White-Tailed Deer rarely bother
Gray's Sedge and other species of sedges.
Photograhic Location: Along a small stream in Busey
Woods at Urbana, Illinois.
Comments:
The pistillate spikelet of this attractive sedge resembles a medieval mace.
Because of this unusual characteristic, Gray's Sedge is fairly easy to
identify. It is closely related to a less common sedge, Carex
intumescens, which has a similar appearance. This latter species has
pistillate spikelets that are less globoid (because its lowermost perigynia
don't hang downward to the same extent as those of Gray's Sedge) and the base
of each perigynium for this species is rounded, rather than wedge-shaped.
Sometimes specimens of Gray's Sedge with pubescent perigynia are recognized as
a distinct variety, or Carex grayi hispidula. The seeds are distributed
in part by water because the inflated perigynia (within which the seeds are
contained) can float on its surface. This is a characteristic of many other
wetland sedges.