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green-sheath sedge

foetid sedge, native sedge

Habit Plants cespitose, 50–100 cm tall. Plants loosely cespitose or short-rhizomatous, 8–40 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.

blades (1.5)2–3.5(4) mm wide; shorter than the culms; all arising near the base.

Inflorescences

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

spikes ovate, gynaecandrous.

0.8–1.6 cm long; dense and head-like;

spikes 5–15, crowded; indistinguishable, androgynous.

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.

narrowly to broadly elliptic, flattened, 3.3–4.6 × 1.1–1.9 mm; pale yellowish brown at the base but reddish brown to blackish above; shiny;

beak 0.9–1.5 mm long;

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.

about as long and wide as the perigynia; reddish brown to blackish, often with paler midrib; more or less translucent; shiny.

Carex feta

Carex vernacula

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.

Alpine and subalpine wet meadows, rocky slopes that receive snowmelt, edges of headwater streams, and lake shores. 2300–2800 m. BR, BW, Casc, ECas. CA, ID, WA; east to WY and CO. Native.

This alpine “ball-headed” sedge has dense, dark heads, stipitate perigynia, and persistent anthers. Similar C. illota has smaller inflorescences and uniformly dull dark brown perigynia that lack stipes. Carex jonesii has the perigynium base swollen with pithy tissue.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 200
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 232
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. 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. 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. vesicaria, C. viridula, C. vulpinoidea, C. whitneyi, C. zikae
Synonyms Carex foetida, Carex foetida var. vernacula
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