Lesser Panicled Sedge FAMILY: Cyperaceae.

HABIT: Densely tufted perennial from a short, slender, blackish rootstalk, fertile culms 3-7 dm.; fruiting late May-June. SIMILAR SPECIES: Carex diandra and C. prairea are very similar in general appearance and also grow in the same habitats. The following characters can help distinguish them: C. diandra has perigynia mostly exceeding their scales, leaf sheaths are pale with purplish dots; C. prairea has perigynia mostly shorter than their scales and leaf sheaths tinged with copper, especially towards the summit. C. sartwellii resembles these two species in general appearance, but can be separated from them by its elongate, fibrillose rootstalk and its non-branching spikelets