''Carex appressa'', the tall sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

. It is native to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and generally in the South West Pacific.

Description

''Carex appressa'' is a densely tufted,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

sedge that forms clumps up to in diameter. Its stems grow to around in height, and are hard and solid, becoming rough towards the top of the stem. Its leaves are wide, are rough on the

margins Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page *Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

, and grow mostly out of the base of the plant. It has a brownish, spike-like

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

made of 20 or more spikes, growing long. Its flowers are numerous oval-shaped brownish spikelets that are approximately long, with both male and female flowers mixed together in the spikes. Its nut is contained in a flattened, oval-shaped,

beaked The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...

, hairless sack or utricle that is long. Carex appressa R

Habitat and ecology

''Carex appressa'' occurs in swamps, watercourses, and occasionally in water. It also serves as a larval food plant for ''Heteronympha cordace''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2938246 appressa Flora of New Guinea Flora of Australia Flora of the South Island Flora of New Caledonia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)