OregonFlora: Carex feta

	Carex feta
	green-sheath sedge
Habit	Plants cespitose, 50–100 cm tall.
Leaves	sheath fronts green and veined throughout; except for a white-hyaline triangle to 6 mm long near the top, sometimes prolonged 1.5–6 mm above the base of the blade; blades (2.5)3–4(5) mm wide.
Inflorescences	3.5–8 cm × 10– 13 mm, elongated but with overlapping spikes, green to straw-colored; spikes ovate, gynaecandrous.
Perigynia	ovate to broadly ovate, 3.2–4.2 × 1.7–2.1 mm, green, white, or straw-colored, with 1–8 veins on each face; beak white or straw-colored at tip, winged and ciliate-serrulate; (1.5)1.8–2.4 mm from top of achene to tip of beak; stigmas 2.
Achenes	lenticular; (1.3)1.5–1.8 × 0.9–1.2 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick.
Female scales	2.7–3.5 mm long; shorter and narrower than the perigynia, white hyaline or straw-colored; midrib green; straw-colored, or brown.

	Carex feta
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Wet meadows and prairies, margins of marshes and road ditches. 100–1500 m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; north to British Columbia, WY. Native. The neat, tidy appearance, overall green inflorescence, green leaf sheath fronts, and low elevation west-side range identify C. feta. Similar C. fracta is a coarser, sloppier plant with white-hyaline leaf sheath fronts and silvery inflorescences. The leaf sheath front of C. scoparia has such a narrow white-hyaline center that it can appear entirely green, but its usually curving inflorescence has a much finer texture with acuminate female scales and pointed perigynia, and its longer perigynia taper more gradually to the beak. See also discussions of C. longii and C. tribuloides, which have green sheath fronts.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 200 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Sibling taxa	C. abrupta, C. agastachys, C. amplifolia, C. angustata, C. aperta, C. aquatilis, C. arcta, C. arenaria, C. atherodes, C. athrostachya, C. atrosquama, C. aurea, C. barbarae, C. bebbii, C. bolanderi, C. brainerdii, C. brevior, C. breweri, C. buchananii, C. buxbaumii, C. californica, C. canescens, C. capillaris, C. capitata, C. chordorrhiza, C. comans, C. comosa, C. concinna, C. concinnoides, C. cordillerana, C. crawfordii, C. cusickii, C. davyi, C. deflexa, C. densa, C. diandra, C. disperma, C. distans, C. douglasii, C. duriuscula, C. echinata, C. exsiccata, C. filifolia, C. fissuricola, C. fracta, C. geyeri, C. gynocrates, C. gynodynama, C. halliana, C. harfordii, C. hassei, C. haydeniana, C. hendersonii, C. heteroneura, C. hirsutella, C. hirta, C. hoodii, C. hystericina, C. idahoa, C. illota, C. infirminervia, C. inops, C. integra, C. interior, C. interrupta, C. jonesii, C. kelloggii, C. klamathensis, C. kobomugi, C. laeviculmis, C. lasiocarpa, C. leporina, C. leporinella, C. leptalea, C. leptopoda, C. limosa, C. livida, C. longii, C. luzulina, C. lyngbyei, C. macrocephala, C. macrochaeta, C. media, C. mendocinensis, C. mertensii, C. mesochorea, C. micropoda, C. microptera, C. multicaulis, C. nardina, C. nebrascensis, C. nervina, C. neurophora, C. nigricans, C. nudata, C. obnupta, C. pachycarpa, C. pachystachya, C. pansa, C. paysonis, C. pellita, C. pelocarpa, C. pendula, C. petasata, C. phaeocephala, C. pluriflora, C. praeceptorum, C. praegracilis, C. praticola, C. preslii, C. pumila, C. raynoldsii, C. retrorsa, C. rossii, C. saxatilis, C. scabriuscula, C. scirpoidea, C. scoparia, C. scopulorum, C. serpenticola, C. serratodens, C. sheldonii, C. simulata, C. spectabilis, C. stipata, C. straminiformis, C. subbracteata, C. subfusca, C. subnigricans, C. sychnocephala, C. tahoensis, C. tiogana, C. tribuloides, C. tumulicola, C. unilateralis, C. utriculata, C. vallicola, C. vernacula, C. vesicaria, C. viridula, C. vulpinoidea, C. whitneyi, C. zikae
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Carex feta

green-sheath sedge

Habit

Plants cespitose, 50–100 cm tall.

Leaves

sheath fronts green and veined throughout; except for a white-hyaline triangle to 6 mm long near the top, sometimes prolonged 1.5–6 mm above the base of the blade;

blades (2.5)3–4(5) mm wide.

Inflorescences

3.5–8 cm × 10– 13 mm, elongated but with overlapping spikes, green to straw-colored;

spikes ovate, gynaecandrous.

Perigynia

ovate to broadly ovate, 3.2–4.2 × 1.7–2.1 mm, green, white, or straw-colored, with 1–8 veins on each face;

beak white or straw-colored at tip, winged and ciliate-serrulate; (1.5)1.8–2.4 mm from top of achene to tip of beak;

stigmas 2.

Achenes

lenticular; (1.3)1.5–1.8 × 0.9–1.2 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm thick.

Female scales

2.7–3.5 mm long; shorter and narrower than the perigynia, white hyaline or straw-colored;

midrib green; straw-colored, or brown.

Carex feta

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Wet meadows and prairies, margins of marshes and road ditches. 100–1500 m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; north to British Columbia, WY. Native.

The neat, tidy appearance, overall green inflorescence, green leaf sheath fronts, and low elevation west-side range identify C. feta. Similar C. fracta is a coarser, sloppier plant with white-hyaline leaf sheath fronts and silvery inflorescences. The leaf sheath front of C. scoparia has such a narrow white-hyaline center that it can appear entirely green, but its usually curving inflorescence has a much finer texture with acuminate female scales and pointed perigynia, and its longer perigynia taper more gradually to the beak. See also discussions of C. longii and C. tribuloides, which have green sheath fronts.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 200
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Sibling taxa

C. abrupta, C. agastachys, C. amplifolia, C. angustata, C. aperta, C. aquatilis, C. arcta, C. arenaria, C. atherodes, C. athrostachya, C. atrosquama, C. aurea, C. barbarae, C. bebbii, C. bolanderi, C. brainerdii, C. brevior, C. breweri, C. buchananii, C. buxbaumii, C. californica, C. canescens, C. capillaris, C. capitata, C. chordorrhiza, C. comans, C. comosa, C. concinna, C. concinnoides, C. cordillerana, C. crawfordii, C. cusickii, C. davyi, C. deflexa, C. densa, C. diandra, C. disperma, C. distans, C. douglasii, C. duriuscula, C. echinata, C. exsiccata, C. filifolia, C. fissuricola, C. fracta, C. geyeri, C. gynocrates, C. gynodynama, C. halliana, C. harfordii, C. hassei, C. haydeniana, C. hendersonii, C. heteroneura, C. hirsutella, C. hirta, C. hoodii, C. hystericina, C. idahoa, C. illota, C. infirminervia, C. inops, C. integra, C. interior, C. interrupta, C. jonesii, C. kelloggii, C. klamathensis, C. kobomugi, C. laeviculmis, C. lasiocarpa, C. leporina, C. leporinella, C. leptalea, C. leptopoda, C. limosa, C. livida, C. longii, C. luzulina, C. lyngbyei, C. macrocephala, C. macrochaeta, C. media, C. mendocinensis, C. mertensii, C. mesochorea, C. micropoda, C. microptera, C. multicaulis, C. nardina, C. nebrascensis, C. nervina, C. neurophora, C. nigricans, C. nudata, C. obnupta, C. pachycarpa, C. pachystachya, C. pansa, C. paysonis, C. pellita, C. pelocarpa, C. pendula, C. petasata, C. phaeocephala, C. pluriflora, C. praeceptorum, C. praegracilis, C. praticola, C. preslii, C. pumila, C. raynoldsii, C. retrorsa, C. rossii, C. saxatilis, C. scabriuscula, C. scirpoidea, C. scoparia, C. scopulorum, C. serpenticola, C. serratodens, C. sheldonii, C. simulata, C. spectabilis, C. stipata, C. straminiformis, C. subbracteata, C. subfusca, C. subnigricans, C. sychnocephala, C. tahoensis, C. tiogana, C. tribuloides, C. tumulicola, C. unilateralis, C. utriculata, C. vallicola, C. vernacula, C. vesicaria, C. viridula, C. vulpinoidea, C. whitneyi, C. zikae

Web links

Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from OregonFlora.

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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Carex feta

Carex feta