Pointed broom sedge
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Carex scoparia Schkuhr ex Willd.
Common name(s): pointed broom sedge, broom 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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- pointed broom sedge, early June
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- in wet depression in blueberry field
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- end of May
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- inflorescence detail, end of May
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- flower, mid-June
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- var. tessellata
Description:
– perennial
– reproduces by rootstocks and seed
-Flowers from July to September.
-Grass-like sedge
-Stems 1/2′ to 2 1/2′ tall and triangular
-Leaves less than 1/8′ wide
-Three to ten flower spikes
- oblong, narrow at both ends
- brownish or straw colored
- 1/4″ to 3/4″ long
- 1/8″ to 1/4″ in diameter with many flowers.
– two varieties in New England; var. scoparia is New England-wide, while var. tessellata is known only from eastern ME (Flora Novae Angliae states it should probably be treated as a separate species). See Flora Novae Angliae information on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-meadows and fields
-wetlands
Source(s):
Haines, A., Farnsworth, E., Morrison, G., & New England Wild Flower Society. (2011). New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae: A manual for the identification of native and naturalized higher vascular plants of New England. Framingham, MA: New England Wild Flower Society. p. 124.
Go Botany. “Carex Scoparia Schkuhr Ex Willd.” Carex Scoparia (Pointed Broom Sedge): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/carex/scoparia/.
Acknowledgement(s):
Eric T. Doucette, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Biology, MA College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA (updated Feb 2018)