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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE SEDGE FAMILY | |||||||||
| The sedge family is widespread around
the world, but these plants are usually found in damp habitats in subarctic
to temperate regions. The sedge family is very large, with approximately
5,315 species! There is a lot of variability within the family, but in general,
they are perennial herbs. The stems are solid and are frequently three sided.
The leaves are in three vertical rows. The basal sheath of the leaves is
closed. The leaves are linear and have the parallel venation typical of
the monocots. The inflorescences vary greatly among genera. In general,
flowers are in spikes or spikelets which are arranged into spikes, racemes,
panicles and umbrella-like clusters. In each spike there are bracts, usually
at least one per flower. The flowers are reduced, meaning that they do not
have obvious sepals and petals. The sepals and petals, if present, are often
in the form of bristles, scales or hairs. There are three stamens and two
or three carpels. The flowers may have both male and female parts or only
one of the two. In one of the largest genera, Carex, the ovary is enclosed
in a sac-like bract called the perigynium. The fruits are single-seeded,
lens-shaped or triangular structures called achenes. The sedges are an ecologically important family in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan has 149 species belonging to the Cyperaceae. | |||||||||
| THREE-FRUITED SEDGE | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Carex trisperma | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Three-fruited sedge grows as tall as 60 cm from slender rhizomes. The stems are loosely tufted and are often in large clumps. The stems tend to be thin, weak and arched. The leaves are flat or channelled. The inflorescence is made of two to four spikes and the axis of the inflorescence is bent at the point of the spike attachment. The lowest spike bract exceeds the inflorescence, but the higher bracts are bristle-like. The spikes have the female flowers above the male flowers in the same spike. The perigynia are pale green to brownish in age. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Three-fruited sedge grows in wet black spruce woods, and in open and treed bogs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found northern and central Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland, Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland, and Athabasca Plain ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Three-fruited sedge is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon. It occurs over a wide range in the province. Population sizes vary. No threats are known or anticipated for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY THREE-FRUITED SEDGE | |||||||||
| * Is the inflorescence made of two to four spikes? * Are the female flowers above the male flowers in the same spike? * Is the lowest spike bract longer than the inflorescence? * Did you find it in northern or central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found three-fruited sedge! | |||||||||
