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Bottlebrush sedge's fertile stems bear a single, terminal staminate (male) spike up to 3" long and 2-6 pistillate (female) spikes (shown here), each 5-6 cm long and 1.5 cm across. The cylindrical pistillate spikes are comprised of densely packed, female perigynia (florets) radiating from the center of the cylinder.

Carex

Carex comosa

bottlebrush sedge [Blooms: May-Jun]

Fertile culms of porcupine sedge produce an inflorescence at their tips with a single, terminal staminate spikelet and 2-4 pistillate spikelets below balancing on or hanging from thin pedicels. The staminate spikelet is paralleled along its length by a bristly bract; both are up to 2" long. Pistillate spikelets are 0.75-2.5" long and 1/2" across, roughly cylindrical in outline, and packed with widely spreading, inflated perigynia 5-8 mm long and about 2 mm across whose sharp tips give rise to the common name; at their base, the perigynia have a leaf-like bract 4-6" long and 3-4 mm across. The lowest pistillate spikelet has the longest (up to 12") bract. Porcupine sedge is commonly found near the shorelines around the Jackson Park lagoons. Of all the Jackson Park sedges, porcupine sedge is most similar to cyperus sedge (C. pseudocyperus) but has stubbier pistillate spikelets.

Carex

Carex hystericina

porcupine sedge [Blooms: May-Jul]

Troublesome sedge is superficially similar to crested sedge (C. cristatella) but with fewer, less spiky spikelets, and with perigynia less crowded. Two to five (rarely six) spikelets are crowded along an inflorescence at the tip of the culm, each 6-15 mm long and 5-10 mm wide. The perigynia are rounded at tip and base, tapering distally to a blunt point, each with a darker green, winged margin and a lighter center. Staminate (male) perigynia are relatively few and located at the base of the spikelets; most of the perigynia are pistillate (female). At the base of the lowermost spikelet is a thin, bristle-like, usually short bract. The left side of the image shows a young inflorescence; the right side shows a mature inflorescence post-fertilization.

Carex

Carex molesta

troublesome sedge [Blooms: May-Jun]

Two prickly sedge inflorescences photographed about a month apart. Fertile culms bear an apical inflorescence from 2-4" long bearing several short spikelets with a distinctly spikey appearance; the spikelets are initially light green (left image) but turn gold (right image) to brown as they mature. Each spikelet has a needle-like bract at its base (longest in the lowermost spikelet); the spikelet has a few staminate (male) perigynia apically but the majority of the perigynia are pistillate.

Carex

Carex stipata

prickly sedge [Blooms: May-Jun]