Sedges

Sedge Family - Cyperaceae

See also Rushes and rush-like plants for other, similar species.

Sea Club-rush Bolboschoenus maritimus

Native throughout temperate and warm temperate regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Commonly forms large stands, especially in areas where freshwater meets saline water.


Habit	Habit	Male flowers	Male flowers

Female flowers	Female flowers	Back of leaf base	Front of leaf base

Common Galingale Cyperus longus

Native throughout most of Europe, eastwards to Central Asia and India and southwards throughout most of Africa.


Habit	Habit	Young flower spikes	Young flower spikes

Flowering spike	Flowers	Leaves	Leaf detail

Brown Galingale Cyperus fuscus

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to China and South-east Asia.


Habit	Flower spike	Spikelets	Spikelets

Leaves

Purple Nutsedge Cyperus rotundus

Native from the Mediterranean Region southwards through the tropics to all of Africa and through South-east Asia to Australia. Widely introduced in the New World.


Habit	Flower spikes	Flower spikes

Spikelets	Spikelets

Capitate Galingale Cyperus capitatus

Native from Macaronesia eastwards through the Mediterranean Region to the southern Black Sea area. A plant of sandy beaches.


Habit	Habit	Habit

Early flower spike	Flower spike	Flower spike

Umbrella Sedge Cyperus alternifolius

Native to much of Subsaharan Africa but a popular cultivated plant and occasionally seen where deliberately planted in wet places or where surviving from a garden throw-out.


Habit	Habit	Flowering stems	Flowering stem

Leaves	Leaf	Fruiting spike	Fruiting spike

Great Fen-sedge Cladium mariscus

(Saw Sedge) Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region to Africa and Japan. Also in the New World and Australia.


Habit	Female flowers	Female flowers	Male flowers

Fruiting spikes	Fruiting spikes	Leaf section	Leaf margin

False Fox Sedge Carex otrubae

Native from Macaronesia throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region to western China.


Habit	Habit	Flowering spike	Flowering spike

Early flowers	Fruiting spike	Fruits	Fruit

Grey Sedge Carex divulsa

Native throughout Europe except Scandinavia and through the Mediterranean Region to Iran.


Habit	Male flowers	Female flowers

Leaf sheath	Fruit	Fruit

Divided Sedge Carex divisa

Native throughout Western Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards through the Black Sea area and Middle East to Central Asia. Forms spreading patches by means of creeping rhizomes. Typically in damp ground at the upper margins of saltmarshes and in coastal water meadows.


Habit	Flower spike	Male flowers	Female flowers

Fruiting spike	Leaf sheath	Leaf ligule	Fruit

Pendulous Sedge Carex pendula

Native to Western Europe and the Mediterranean Region. A large, broad-leaved species with stately flowering stems.


Habit	Habit	Flower spike	Flower spike

Flowering spike	Leaves	Fruiting spike	Fruit

Glaucous Sedge Carex flacca

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Pakistan. A small, distinctive, blue-grey species.


Flower spike	Flower spike	Female spikes	Female spike

Old male spike	Leaf tip	Fruiting spike	Fruit

Distant Sedge Carex distans

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. A tussock-forming species with large gaps beween the individual flower spikes.


Flower spike	Early male flower spike	Flowering male spike	Lowest female spike

Lowest female spike	Leaves	Fruiting spike	Fruit

Long-bracted Sedge Carex extensa

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. Usually near the coast, at the upper edge of saltmarsh or in seasonally inundated water meadows.