On new sedges
Carex eburnea, bristle-leaved sedge in habitat
Good news for those interested in sedges! They can expand their collection; good chance made to be at the right place & time in order to collect two fine species this fall. For a third one, the ‘fruits’ were collected from the garden.
Carex eburnea, the Bristle-leaved sedge is one my favourite sedge.
Clumps with very fine leaves (1 mm), that will shimmer and sway gently in the wind in a part-shade to shaded location. A dream! It grows from very short rhizomes, so in time it can form very nice compact carpets.
In the fall, if the flowering went well, it will show black, shiny perigynia*.
I am lucky to also be able to grow it in my garden. It prefers a calcareous substrate and seems to be quite tolerant to drought (not great flowering though and it increases very slow).
I had a few seeds last fall and sowed them for myself. The germination was very prompt in the spring (like for most Carex species I tried: image at the end of the post).
Carex aurea, Golden-fruited sedge, in habitat
Carex aurea, the Golden-fruited sedge, is another native sedge with very thin leaves, an inhabitant of moist forests, wet ledges, fens and other moist locations.
It can pass unobserved until fall when the almost round, golden perigynia* (what we call fruits) attract your attention (and help with the ID 😊.
This species also prefers a calcareous substrate (sorry those with acidic gardens) and needs more moisture than Carex eburnea to grow well.
To the opposite of these ‘fine’ species sits Carex plantaginea. The seeds were collected in the garden. It is already listed and was noticed by the garden enthusiasts, so do not wait too long.
Carex plantaginea in the garden, shown with Vancouveria hexandra foliage.
Broad, ribbon-like leaves with a bluish tint, make for a superb addition to any garden and combines very well with finer textures. It adapts well in culture and tolerates quite enough sun, as it seems.
And, because it is also a Friday’s seeds, a bit more details.
Like in many other cases, for sedges we do not sow the seeds per se.
***In Carex the female flowers are enclosed in a structures of various shapes (sac, bottle, tube-like…) called perigynium (subtended by a single bract). Later, the fruits (achenes) remain surrounded by this perigynium (plural: perigynia).
It is a very important character used for identification of Carex species.
We gardeners refer to these structures as fruits, or seeds. Sometimes we sow them whole (in case of species with small or flat perigynia), or sometimes we will sow the fruits (achenes), like for example in Carex grayi which has very large perigynia, which are usually removed.
