Carex grayi · Cyperaceae — sedges
Its green fruit heads look like tiny medieval maces. Gray’s Sedge is a memorable introduction to the surprising shapes hidden among grasslike plants.
Family: Cyperaceae — sedges
Habitat: Moist woodland and floodplain forest
Height: About 1–3 feet
Season: Late spring and summer fruiting heads
Look for nearly round heads packed with large, inflated fruit sacs pointing in many directions. A narrow male spike sits above the round female heads, and long leaflike bracts extend beyond them. The pointed sacs are called perigynia; each surrounds a small fruit.
The distinctive inflated, radiating fruit sacs strongly support the label in this photo set. Compare the whole head with other large-fruited sedges rather than identifying a plant from one pointed sac.
Select a photograph for a larger view. Photographs by Brian Woolman.
Look in moist, shaded places such as floodplain woods and seeps. Clumps of green leaves can be easy to overlook until the conspicuous fruit heads develop.
The showy green structures are fruit coverings, not petals. Their swollen shape helps explain why a sedge can look so different from a familiar lawn grass.
References: Species identification reference. Field photographs are compared with these references; they are not herbarium determinations.