Slenderbeak sedge

Description

Carex athrostachya is a species of sedge known by the common name slenderbeak sedge. It is native to western North America, including Alaska to central Canada, the western contiguous United States, and just into Baja California. Carex athrostachya grows in wet and seasonally wet areas, such as wetlands and meadows. It produces dense clumps of stems up to 80 centimeters tall. The inflorescence is a dense green to brown cluster one or two centimeters long. Carex is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology. All species of Carex are perennial, although some species, such as C. bebbii and C. viridula can fruit in their first year of growth, and may not survive longer. They typically have rhizomes, stolons or short rootstocks, but some species grow in tufts (caespitose). The culm – the flower-bearing stalk – is unbranched and usually erect. It is usually distinctly triangular in section.