''Carex scoparia'' 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'' ...

known by the common names broom sedge and pointed broom sedge. It should not be confused with the unrelated

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

species known as "broom sedge," ''

Andropogon virginicus ''Andropogon virginicus'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including broomsedge bluestem, yellowsedge bluestem and (in Australia, because it was introduced to that country after being used as packaging for bottles of American ...

''.

Distribution

This sedge is native to much of North America, including the southern half of Canada and most of the continental United States, from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. ''Carex scoparia'' can be found in many types of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

habitat, from meadows to irrigation ditches, though it is adaptable to varying soils and hydrologic conditions. It is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

in New Zealand and parts of Europe.

Description

''Carex scoparia'' produces dense clumps of stems 20 centimeters to one meter tall with narrow grasslike leaves up to about 30 centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a cluster or open array of several bullet-shaped spikes of flowers. The spikes are light green and age to tan or brown. The fruit is covered in a sac called a

perigynium In botany, a perigynium (plural: perigynia), also referred to as a utricle, typically refers to a sac that surrounds the achene of plants in the genus ''Carex'' (Cyperaceae). The perigynium is a modified prophyll, tissue of leaf origin, that enclos ...

which is light in color. The achene within the perigynium is ovate or elliptic.

References

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Carex scoparia''Flora of North America: ''Carex scoparia''''Carex scoparia'' - Photo gallery
scoparia Flora of North America Plants described in 1805 {{Carex-stub