Description: This
native perennial sedge forms a loose tuft of leafy culms about 1-2' tall. Each
culm has 4-6 alternate leaves, which are located mostly along the lower half of
its length. Each slender culm is light to medium green, stiffly triangular, and
slightly pubescent or glabrous; the texture of the culm is rough underneath the
inflorescence, otherwise it is smooth. The leaf blades are up to 5 mm. long and
11" long; they are medium green, widely spreading, and rather floppy. Both the
upper and lower surfaces of each blade are conspicuously pubescent. The outer
two sides of each leaf sheath are medium green and very pubescent, while the
inner side of the sheath is membranous and less pubescent. The upper mouth of
the sheath is concave or truncate. At the junction of the sheath and blade, the
ligule is short-membranous, forming an upside-down V-shape. Each culm
terminates in an inflorescence of 2-4 cylindrical spikelets and their bracts.
The uppermost spikelet is gynecandrous (pistillate florets & their scales
above, staminate florets & their scales below), while the lower spikelets
are entirely pistillate. Each spikelet is about 10-12 mm. long and 5 mm.
across; the uppermost spikelet is a little longer than the lower spikelets.
Each spikelet is densely backed with the perigynia of the pistillate florets;
these perigynia are spreading to ascending. Each spikelet is held more or less
erect on a short slender stalk; the bract of the lowest spikelet overtops the
inflorescence. There are about 20–35 perigynia per spikelet. Each
perigynium is 2.5–3.0 mm. long, 1.5 mm. across, and obovoid in shape; the
outer surface of the perigynium is pale green (while immature), glabrous, and
only faintly nerved. Each perigynium is well-rounded on its 2 outer sides and
somewhat flat on its inner side; the beak of each perigynium is very short and
insignificant, while its base is bluntly wedge-shaped. The pistillate scales
are 2.0–2.5 mm. long and ovate in shape; they are shorter than the
perigynia. Each pistillate scale has a green midvein, otherwise it is
membranous (later turning brown). The blooming period occurs from late spring
to early summer. The pistillate florets are wind-pollinated. The achenes are
obovoid, glabrous, and somewhat 3-angled; they are about 1.5–2.0 mm. in
length. The root system is fibrous and short-rhizomatous.
Cultivation: This sedge is typically found in
partial sun, mesic to slightly dry conditions, and a somewhat sterile soil
containing sand, rocky material, or clay. Like many other sedges, it will form
small vegetative clumps.
Range &
Habitat: Hairy-Leaved Sedge is fairly common in the southern half of
Illinois, becoming occasional to absent in the northern half of the state (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include upland oak woodlands, thinly wooded bluffs, wooded
slopes, savannas and sandy savannas, rocky glades, sandy meadows, and abandoned
fields.
Faunal
Associations: The caterpillars of the butterfly Satyrodes
appalachia (Appalachian Brown) and the skipper Euphyes vestris
metacomet (Dun Skipper) feed on the foliage of Carex spp. (sedges)
in woodland areas and adjacent meadows. The stink bug Mormidea lugens is
known to feed on many woodland sedges. Among vertebrate animals, several upland
gamebirds feed on the seeds or seedheads of sedges; this includes the Wild
Turkey, Greater Prairie Chicken, Ring-Necked Pheasant, and chicks of the Ruffed
Grouse. Songbirds that feed on sedges in wooded or partially wooded habitats
include the Cardinal, Eastern Towhee, Song Sparrow, Lincoln Sparrow, Tree
Sparrow (winter only), and Common Redpoll (winter only). Some mammals use
woodland sedges as a source of food to a minor extent; these include
White-Tailed Deer (foliage), Gray Squirrel and Fox Squirrel (seedheads), and
Black Bear (foliage, seedheads).
Photographic
Location: Edge of a wooded bluff in Vermillion County,
Illinois.
Comments: This sedge is
usually found in rather dry open woodlands. It resembles many other Carex
spp. (sedges), but its leaf blades and sheaths are conspicuously pubescent.
Unlike Carex hirtifolia (Hairy Sedge) and some other hairy sedges, the
perigynia of Hairy-Leaved Sedge are glabrous, rather than pubescent.
Hairy-Leaved Sedge could be confused with Carex bushii (Bush's Sedge),
but the pistillate scales of the latter are longer than the perigynia. Another
common name of Carex hirsutella is Downy Sedge.