About Carex praegracilis W.Boott
Carex praegracilis, also called field sedge, grows in wet and seasonally wet habitats, including meadows and wetlands. It tolerates disturbed sites such as roadsides and grows well in alkaline substrates. This sedge produces sharply triangular stems that reach up to 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) tall, growing from a network of thin, coarse rhizomes. Its inflorescence is a dense, somewhat cylindrical cluster of flower spikes that is up to 4 or 5 centimeters (1.6 or 2.0 inches) long. The species is often dioecious, meaning an individual plant produces only male or only female flowers in its inflorescences, not both. The range of this sedge is currently expanding, especially along roadsides where road salt application appears to encourage its growth. Carex praegracilis is native to most of North America. Its natural distribution spans from Alaska across southern Canada, throughout the continental United States from California to Maine, and it is absent from the southeastern United States.
