Carex virescens

Culms 30-100 cm, sparsely pilose. Leaves: sheaths pilose; ligules longer than wide; blades 2-4 mm wide, pilose. Inflorescences: lateral spikes (18-)20-35 × 2.5-3.5 mm, proximal distant; terminal spike gynecandrous, at least 1/2 of flowers pistillate, 20-35(-40) mm. Pistillate scales ovate-circular, 1.5-2.5(-3.2) × 0.9-1.2 mm, apex of proximal obtuse, with awn to 0.5 mm, apex of distal acute to acuminate, as long as perigynia. Staminate scales ovate, 2.8-4.1 mm, apex obtuse to acuminate. Anthers (1-)1.6-2(-2.8) mm. Perigynia ascending, distinctly 7-12-veined, elliptic, trigonous in cross section, 1.9-2.5 × 1-1.4 mm, densely pilose; beak absent. Achenes 1.5-2 × 0.8-1.1 mm. 2n = 60.

Fruiting late spring-early summer. Dry to wet-mesic deciduous forests, banks; 0-1000 m; Ont., Que.; Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ind., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Tufted, 5-10 dm, reddish-purple at base, the stems usually overtopping the lvs; main lvs 2-4 mm wide, hairy; terminal spike 2-4 cm, pistillate above; pistillate spikes 2-4, erect, 2-4 cm, linear-cylindric, loosely fld at base, sessile or short-peduncled; bracts sheathless or nearly so, the lowest foliaceous, the upper much reduced; anthers 1.5-2.5 mm; pistillate scales ovate, shorter than to surpassing the perigynia, hyaline-margined, with green midvein, acute to cuspidate; perigynia obscurely trigonous, ±ellipsoid, 2-3 mm, densely hairy, conspicuously few-ribbed, acute, beakless; achene concavely trigonous. Dry woods; Me. to Mich., s. to N.C., Ga., and Mo.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

Fairly common in the southern counties, especially in the knob area (Chestnut Oak Upland), on wooded bluffs, slopes, and river banks; infrequent in level woods. It is known from the lake area from a single collection and most reports from the northern third of the state were doubtless based upon material of C. Swanii.

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Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 8

Wetland Indicator Status: n/a