Carex trisperma


Carex trisperma, the three-seeded sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Canada, Greenland, and the northeastern United States. It is typically found in acidic bogs within forests.

Description

Carex trisperma is a clump-forming, perennial plant, which grows from a rhizome. Leaves are basal and alternate, flat, with whitish leaf sheaths. Stems are slender, measuring up to 2 feet in length. There are generally up the 3 stalkless spikes, with staminate flowers at the base and pistillate flowers at the tip. Basal sheaths are brownish in colour. The fruit is an achene, developing in late spring through to summer.

Distribution and habitat

Carex trisperma has a circumpolar distribution, favouring wetland conditions, swampland, bogs within coniferous forests.

Subtaxa

The following subspecies are currently accepted:
  • Carex trisperma var. billingsii O.W.Knight
  • Carex trisperma var. ''trisperma''