Black sedge
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Carex nigra (L.) Reichard
Common name(s): black sedge, black flowering sedge, smooth black sedge
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- black sedge
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- black sedge leaf detail
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- June
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- male spike above, female below
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- female spikes often look checkered
Description:
– perennial
-purple-black scales
-spikes can seem to have a checkered appearance
-lowest bract has no sheath
– may be confused with C. lucorum, which also occurs in wild blueberry fields, especially when not in flower or in early flower. See Go Botany webpage for C. lucorum
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-meadows
-fields
Natural History:
-was first introduced to Georgia
Sources:
Go Botany. “Carex Nigra (L.) Reichard.” Carex Nigra (Smooth Black Sedge): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/carex/nigra/.