Kingdom Plantae Family Cyperaceae Rank Species | Order Poales Genus Carex | |
 | ||
Similar Carex stipata, Carex comosa, Carex vulpinoidea, Carex hystericina, Carex scoparia | ||
Carex sprengelii (Sprengel's sedge or long-beaked sedge) is a sedge with hanging seed heads, native to North America.
Description
Long-beaked sedge has flowering stems (culms) 30 to 90 cm (1 to 3 ft) long. The leaves are 2.5 to 4 mm (0.10 to 0.16 in) wide and shorter than the flowering stems.
Each flowering stem has 1 to 4 spikes of flowers. While flowering, they are crowded at the tip of the stem. The terminal spike is either all male or male with a few female flowers at the bottom. Each female spike has 10 to 40 female flowers, each about 1 mm (0.04 in) apart. Each spike is on its own stalk (pedicel), and each succeeding spike is shorter than the previous one. As the female flowers develop into seeds (achenes), the stalk droops or nods downwards. The bract enclosing the seed has a long tapered tip (beak), which gives the plant its common name.
