Florida Native Plant Society Blog

Warty Sedge, Carex verrucosa Warty Sedge, Carex verrucosa . Ralph E. Simmons State Forest, Nassau County. Photo CC BY-NC ericpo1 Don't be turned off by the ugly name, Warty Sedge ( Carex verrucosa ) is a chunky sedge that defies the stereotypes that sedges are all small, green, boring, and indistinguishable. It has seriously spiky inflorescences and seedheads that are striking in the field. It doesn't have any other common names that I'm aware of, so that makes things easy. Warty Sedge, Carex verrucosa . Watson Island State Forest, St. Johns County. Photo CC BY-NC ericpo1 Flowering Warty Sedge, Carex verrucosa , Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk County, FL. Photo CC BY-NC Edwin Bridges C. glaucescens was described in 1817 by botanist Gotthilf Muhlenberg, for whom the genus Muhlenbergia is named (the very common landscape grass Hairawn Muhly, M. capillaris , is a member of that genus) 2,3 .  It is vouchered for 45 out of the 67 count...

Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens Fruiting Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens . Black Creek Ravines, Clay County. Photo CC BY-NC ericpo1 Clustered Sedge ( Carex glaucesens ) is another sedge, like the previously profiled False Hop Sedge , that defies the stereotypes that sedges are all small, green, boring, and indistinguishable. Also known as Southern Waxy Sedge, is an wet understory sedge of the Southeastern US but doesn't go far south into Central Florida 1 . It's restricted to the panhandle, Northeast Florida, and Lake County. Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens . Photo © Shirley Denton C. glaucescens was described in 1824 by botanist Stephen Elliot 2 .  It is vouchered for 26 out of the 67 counties in Florida. Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens Photo © Shirley Denton Clustered Sedge is within the Glaucescentes section of the Carex genus 3 , which mean that it is closely related to other chunky-fruited Florida sedges: Cypress S...

False Hop Sedge ( Carex lupuliformis ) is now blooming. This species is often found in floodplain forests and wetlands of Florida throughout the Eastern US all the way to Eastern Canada 1,2 . Members of the Carex genus (sometimes called Carices) have interesting flowers that are often overlooked. False Hop Sedge has both male and female inflorescences, as visible in the following photo. Flowering False Hop Sedge, Carex lupuliformis . Photo by A. Murray © University of Florida C. lupuliformis was described in 1848 by physician-botanist Henry Sartwell 3 and was published in 1850 by botanist and anti-slavery activist Chester Dewey 4 .  It is vouchered for 46 out of the 67 counties in Florida. Fruiting False Hop Sedge, Carex lupuliformis . Photo CC BY-NC-SA Mary Keim . Along the Econlockhatchee River at the Econlockhatchee Sandhills Conservation Area . April 2013. It has been documented in iNaturalist along Arbuckle Creek, the Myakka River, the Econlockhatchee R...