Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cyperus sesquiflorus
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Fragrant Spikesedge's single densely flowered head usually has 1-2 basal lobes. Female scales, and thus the head color, are white (vs. green in C. hortensis). Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kyllinga odorata
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cyperus sesquiflorus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-01-003:
Cyperus sesquiflorus FAMILY Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Kyllinga odorata
COMMON NAME:
Whitehead Sedge, Fragrant Spikesedge
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm180726_3492
July Greenville County SC
Furman University
1-3(4) ovoid to ellipsoid whitish spikes subtended by (2)3-4 horizontal bracts, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm180726_3497
July Greenville County SC
Furman University
A mat-forming, aromatic perennial with conspicuously white spikelets, per Manual of Vascular Plants of NE US & Adjacent Canada (Gleason & Cronquist, 1991).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cyperus sesquiflorus
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kyllinga odorata
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cyperus sesquiflorus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 030-01-003:
Cyperus sesquiflorus
FAMILY
Cyperaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Kyllinga odorata
4305
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Annual/Short-lived perennial?
Habitat: Moist soils of fields, ditches, lawns, shores of ponds and rivers, sand and gravel bars, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Densely cespitose [growing in dense tufts, clumping], rhizomatous
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Heads white
Bracts usually 4, to 10cm long
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Inflorescences unbranched (the spikes sessile)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Spikelet with one nutlet enclosed by two scales
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".