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Old 15-08-2012, 10:42 PM posted to rec.gardens
Kay Lancaster Kay Lancaster is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 481
Default Can you help me ID this plant

On Wed, 15 Aug 2012 08:41:36 +0000, Peter Woodhead wrote:
I have taken these images, hope they help.


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Ah, definitely a Carex from the look of the fruits. Probably C. pendula, then,
from the size. Wet clay soil, I assume?

Sedges have edges -- the cross section of the stem is generally triangular
in shape, with the leaves coming off in three "rows" (3-ranked, in botany-
speak) while grasses have 2-ranked leaves, and the stems are generally
circular in cross section, and hollow between the nodes (places where
the leaves are attached). There are some grasses with solid internodes,
but the structure of the flowers give them away.

Here's a cheat sheet on telling sedges from grasses from rushes:
http://www.floridainvasives.org/Central/Graminoids.pdf