Description:
This native perennial sedge forms a small loose tuft of leafy culms about
½–1½' tall; both fertile and vegetative shoots occur. Each
culm is unbranched, light green, sharply 3-angled, and glabrous; there are
several alternate leaves along its length. The leaf blades are 1-3 mm. across
and usually shorter than the culms; they are light to medium green, glabrous,
and channeled along their midveins. These blades are ascending to widely
spreading. The leaf sheaths are light green, finely veined, and glabrous. Each
fertile culm terminates in an inflorescence consisting of a terminal staminate
spikelet, 2-3 pistillate spikelets, and their bracts (see photo of
Early
Inflorescence). The narrow staminate spikelet is 1.0–2.5 cm. long on a
short peduncle. The staminate scales of this spikelet are 3.5–5.0 mm.
long, 1.5 mm. across, and lanceolate or elliptic in shape; they are dark purple
during the blooming period, often with green midveins and membranous margins.
The large anthers of the staminate florets are cream-colored and linear in
shape; they become dull light brown with age. The sessile pistillate spikelets
are much smaller in size than the staminate spikelet; they are adjacent to each
other or slightly separated. Each pistillate spikelet has about 4-12 perigynia
and their scales. The perigynia are 2.5–3.0 mm. long and 1.5 mm. across;
they are ovoid-globoid with short stout beaks and stipe-like bases that are
also short and stout. The surface of each immature perigynium is light green
and either glabrous or finely short-pubescent. The pistillate scales are about
the same length as the perigynia; they are ovate in shape, dark purple, and
membranous along their margins. Each pistillate floret has 3 styles that are
slender and white. At the base of the lowest pistillate spikelet, there is a
green to purple leafy bract that is as long or a little longer than the
spikelet (up to 1 cm. in length). Other bracts of the inflorescence are smaller
in size and often scale-like. The blooming period occurs from mid- to late
spring and lasts about 1-2 weeks. The pistillate florets are wind-pollinated.
The achenes are about 1.5–2.0 mm. long, globoid-obovoid in shape, and
slightly 3-angled. The root system produces long stolons than run along the
surface of the soil (underneath fallen leaves and other debris). Loose
vegetative colonies are often formed from these stolons.
Cultivation: Pennsylvania Sedge prefers partial or
dappled sunlight and mesic to dry conditions with good drainage. A sandy loam
or loose loam with abundant organic matter is preferred; this sedge also adapts
to thin rocky soil if there is a layer of loam and decaying organic matter on
top.
Range &
Habitat: Pennsylvania Sedge is occasional to locally common in most
areas of Illinois; it is least common in south-central Illinois (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include open upland woodlands, thinly wooded bluffs, wooded
slopes, sandy savannas, and rocky or sandy openings in wooded areas. This sedge
is found in areas where Oak trees are commonly present.
Faunal Associations: Insects that are known to feed
on Pennsylvania Sedge include the leafhopper Cosmotettix delector and
some short-horned grasshoppers: Arphia pseudonietana (Red-Winged
Grasshopper), Orphuella speciosa (Slantfaced Pasture Grasshopper), and
Trachyrhachys kiowa (Kiowa Grasshopper). The caterpillars of the
butterfly Satyrodes appalachia (Appalachian Brown) feed on sedges in
habitats (upland savannas & woodlands) that are favored by Pennsylvania
Sedge. Various birds eat the seeds of sedges; in thinly wooded upland habitats,
these species include the Greater Prairie Chicken, Wild Turkey, immature Ruffed
Grouse, various sparrows, and the Red-Eyed Towhee. The Prairie Vole feeds on
sedges in such habitats as well.
Photographic
Location: Wooded slopes in Vermillion County,
Illinois.
Comments: This is one of
the first sedges to bloom during the spring. Pennsylvania Sedge is very similar
to Carex lucorum and Carex heliophila (Sun Sedge); these latter
two species are sometimes considered different varieties of Pennsylvania Sedge
(e.g., Carex pensylvanica distans & Carex pensylvanica digyna
respectively). Compared to Pennsylvania Sedge, these species/varieties have
longer perigynia (3.0–4.0 mm. in length). The perigyneal beaks of Carex
lucorum are more slender and longer than those of Pennsylvania Sedge, while
Sun Sedge has leaf blades that are more stiff and revolute (rolled). Another
similar species, Carex communis, lacks the long stolons of Pennsylvania
Sedge. Most of these species prefer similar habitats to Pennsylvania Sedge,
although Sun Sedge is more common in the shorter prairies of the Great Plains
states.