''Carex flacca'', with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, (syn. ''Carex glauca''), is a species of

sedge 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'' wit ...

native to parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

.Bluestem.ca: ''Carex flacca'' (Blue Sedge)
accessed 11.30.2011 It is frequent in a range of habitats, including

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

s, exposed and disturbed soil, and the upper edges of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es. It has

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Description

''Carex flacca'' leaves are blue-green above, glaucous beneath, to in height. The arching leaves are about as long as the inflorescence, . The plant spreads in expanding clumps by lateral shoots rooting. Most stems have two male spikes, close together and often looking like one at first glance. Fruits are , roundish, with a very short beak, under . They are densely packed on the spike, not loose and gappy like '' Carex panicea''. Female spikes are approximately long and wide. Female spikes are typically two, and can be short-stalked and upright, or longer-stalked and nodding.

Cultivation

''Carex flacca'' is cultivated by

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, planted for accent or as a

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

s and public landscapes.San Marcos Growers
/ref> It is also used in drought tolerant landscaping and erosion control plantings. It grows in sun to part shade settings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q158524 flacca Flora of Europe Flora of North Africa Plants described in 1771 Garden plants of Africa Garden plants of Europe Drought-tolerant plants Groundcovers Taxa named by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber