Carex rayonnant

Carex stellulata Goodenough var. radiata Wahlenberg, Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 24: 147. 1803; C. rosea Schkuhr ex Willdenow var. radiata (Wahlenberg) Dewey

Plants without conspicuous rhizomes. Culms 20–80 cm, 0.8–1.5 mm wide basally, 0.4–0.5 mm wide distally. Leaves: sheaths tight, green, fronts hyaline; ligules less than 2, wider than long; widest leaf blades 1.3–1.9 mm wide. Inflorescences with 4–8 spikes, 3–7 cm × 5–7.5 mm; proximal internodes more than 2 times as long as proximal spikes; proximal bracts to 5(–10) cm; spikes with 3–8 spreading or reflexed perigynia. Pistillate scales hyaline with green midvein, ovate, 1.4–2.3 × 0.9–1.6 mm, body 1/2 length of perigynium, apex obtuse, acute, or awned. Anthers 0.8–1.3 mm. Perigynia green, faces not veined, 2.6–3.8 × 1–1.5 mm, base of body spongy, thickened, longitudinally striate adaxially, spongy region 1–1.5 mm, margins serrulate distally; beak 0.4–1 mm, apical teeth 0.1–0.2 mm. Stigmas straight or slightly twisted, 0.03–0.06 mm wide. Achenes ovate to obovate, 1.5–2 × 1–1.4 mm. 2n = 58.

Fruiting mid–late spring. Mesic to wet-mesic deciduous and mixed forests, often seasonally wet areas; 50–1000 m; Man., N.B., N.S., Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

The name Carex rosea has frequently been misapplied to C. radiata.