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green-sheath sedge

whiteroot sedge

Habit Plants cespitose, 50–100 cm tall. Plants rhizomatous, with deep rhizomes; forming large stands; culms 30–110 cm tall; plant bases reddish brown or purplish black.
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.

sheath fronts coppery colored, densely red-dotted; ladder-fibrillose;

blades 4–9 mm wide, green to somewhat glaucous.

Inflorescences

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

spikes ovate, gynaecandrous.

lowest bract longer than the inflorescence;

lateral 3–6 spikes female, 3–10 cm × 5–6 mm, brown; erect to drooping, tapering at base; upper 2–3 spikes male.

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.

3–4 × (1.9)2.2–2.5 mm, brown with reddish spots, faintly veined;

beak approximately 0.5 mm, bidentate, scabrous;

stigmas 2.

Achenes

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

lenticular.

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.

reddish brown; acute, usually with a scabrous awn up to 2 mm long.

Carex feta

Carex barbarae

Distribution
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[BONAP county map]
[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.

Floodplains and terraces, riparian forests and open woodlands, savannas, meadows and ditches. 0–1300 m. CR, Sisk. CA. Native.

Carex barbarae grows with C. obnupta and C. aquatilis var. dives, but its typical habitat is drier, its spikes tend to be shorter and less curved, and its perigynia are not as tough as those of C. obnupta. Mostly sterile presumed hybrids of C. barbarae and C. obnupta occur on some tributaries of the Rogue River.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 200
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 190
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
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. 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. feta, 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
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