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Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

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Carex muehlenbergii var. muehlenbergii

Carex muehlenbergii Schkuhr ex Willd. var. muehlenbergii

Muhlenberg's Sedge

Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: CAMUM

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

Stiff-leaved, tuft-forming. Good colonizer for dry, barren areas. (Ontario Native Plants 2002)

The species and variety of this plant are named for Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815), also Heinrich Ludwig Muehlenberg, or Henry Muhlenberg, who was a German-educated Lutheran minister and the first president of Franklin College, now Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania. He is most famous due to his work in the field of botany. An accomplished botanist, chemist, and minerologist, Henry is credited with classifying and naming 150 species of plants in his 1785 work Index Flora Lancastriensis. Muhlenberg's work and collaboration with European botanists led to great advances in the study of plants and earned him the distinction as America's first outstanding botanist.

 

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Grass/Grass-like
Root Type: Fibrous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Linear
Leaf Venation: Parallel
Breeding System: Flowers Unisexual , Monoecious
Inflorescence: Terminal
Fruit Type: Achene
Size Notes: Up to about 3 feet tall.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Green , Brown
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul
Bloom Notes: Perianth absent. Bloom time refers to fruiting period for Carex spp.

Distribution

USA: AL , AR , CT , DE , FL , GA , IA , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MO , MS , NC , NH , NJ , NY , OH , OK , PA , RI , SC , TN , TX , VA , VT , WI , WV
Native Habitat: Savanna,Prairie/Meadow/Field,Riparian

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
Soil Description: Sand

Web Reference

Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Carex muehlenbergii var. muehlenbergii in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Carex muehlenbergii var. muehlenbergii in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Carex muehlenbergii var. muehlenbergii

Metadata

Record Modified: 2022-10-25
Research By: TWC Staff

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