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Support the Flora of the Southeastern US

2024 has been a banner year for making the best flora we can imagine. We've created:
With financial support from people like you, we are aiming even higher in 2025. Together we can accomplish all this: Vote on our 2025 priorities
  • Add Global Conservation Ranks (GRanks) vote
  • Professional graphic keys (polyclaves) to individual families/genera vote
  • 2 new FloraQuest apps: Florida & Mid-South vote
  • Image overlays highlighting diagnostic characters with arrows vote
  • iNaturalist integration in FloraQuest vote
Write-in vote: vote
We've set a goal of recruiting 200 ongoing supporters to donate $15 or more each month in 2025. Please help us reach this goal and make next year's flora even better:
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Keyed in multiple places:

Click the number at the start of a key lead to highlight both that lead and its corresponding lead. Click again to show only the two highlighted leads. Click a third time to return to the full key with the selected leads still highlighted.

Key to Carex, Key D: Subkey in Carex

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1 Pistillate spikes all or in part borne on the elongate, aboveground stem.
  2 Bracts of the lowermost non-basal spike with well-developed sheath > 4 mm long.
    3 Beak of perigynium entire, notched, or with indistinct teeth < 0.6 mm long.
      4 Bracts of the lowermost non-basal spike bladeless, or with a blade < 2 mm long.
      4 Bracts of the lowermost non-basal spike with blade > 3 mm long (and often much longer).
          6 Achene tip with at most a short apiculus.
             7 Leaves usually glabrous, to scabrous on the veins.
               8 Bases of plants distinctly red or purple.
  2 Bracts of the lowermost non-basal spike sheathless or with sheath < 4 mm long.
                                16 Leaf sheaths (and usually the blades as well) pubescent.
                                    18 Perigynia > 3.5 mm long, the tip tapering or abruptly beaked.
                                       19 Longer peduncles of pistillate spikes 0-1 cm long; perigynia < 3× as long as wide, abruptly contracted to a short stipe at the base.
                                             22 Leaf blades glabrous on the upper surface, often with rough margins or tip; beak of perigynium straight.
                                               23 Fronts of leaf sheaths not ladder-fibrillose, sometimes breaking into longitudinal fibers; leaves and sheaths not septate-nodulose.
                                                      26 Leaf blades, at least toward the tip, M-shaped in cross-section when young, the upper surface usually with 2 marginal veins more prominent than the midvein; staminate spikes 1-4
                                                          28 Plants with most pistillate spikes on obvious elongated stems; culms shorter than or longer than the leaves.

Key to Carex, Key E: Subkey in Carex

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1 Apex of perigynium beak with 2 teeth at least (0.4-) 0.5 mm long.
  2 Perigynia with 5+ distinct veins; at least proximal leaves septate-nodulose, rarely not.
    3 Perigynia with serrulate wing on margins; spikes usually 20+, sessile, pistillate or androgynous and similar in appearance, forming a dense, ovoid or oblong head, rarely with proximal spike separated
    3 Perigynia without wing on margins; spikes not more than 10, usually at least proximal shortly pedunculate, sometimes subsessile, distal and proximal spikes usually dissimilar in appearance, usually not crowded into a dense head.
      4 Pistillate scales obtuse to acuminate, awnless or at most with a rough apiculus.
        5 Staminate spikes usually 1-3+; perigynia 6-15 (-22)-veined, each 4-10 (-12.5) mm.
      4 Pistillate scales, at least some, with a scabrous awn.
                   10 Upper pistillate scales acute to short-awned, awn < ½ as long as the body.
                          13 Perigynium veined to tip of body and often into beak; widest leaves mostly > 4 mm wide.
1 Apex of perigynium beak entire, emarginate, or with 2 teeth < 0.5 mm long.
                                       19 Roots brown or black, without yellow-brown felty covering, rarely with white felty covering.
                                                      26 Adaxial side of leaves with 2 marginal veins more prominent than midvein; young leaves M-shaped in cross section.
                                                      26 Adaxial side of leaves without 2 marginal veins more prominent than midvein; young leaves V-shaped or rounded in cross section.

Key to Carex, Key F: Subkey in Carex

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1 Apex of perigynium beak terminated by 2 teeth, mostly > 0.5 mm long.
  2 Perigynia > 4× as long as wide (8-15 × 1-3 mm).
  2 Perigynia < 4× as long as wide.
      4 Perigynia > (9-) 10 mm long.
        5 Sheaths, at least the proximal sheath fronts, densely tomentose at mouth; apical teeth of perigynium beak often > 1 mm long
        5 Sheaths glabrous; apical teeth of perigynium beak not more than 1 mm.
      4 Perigynia < 10 mm long.
                 9 Perigynia with 5+ strong veins extending length of bodies; leaves septate-nodulose.
                     11 Perigynium body ovoid or lanceoloid or ellipsoid, widest at middle or proximally; proximal bract usually < 2× as long as the inflorescence.
                          13 Culms brown or black at base, without trace of red or purple.
1 Apex of perigynium beak entire, emarginate, or with teeth mostly < 0.5 mm long.
                                           21 Young leaves V-shaped or rounded in cross section, adaxial surface without 2 marginal veins more prominent than midvein or other veins.
                                                 24 Base of culm brown, without or with only trace of red or purple; leaves 4-15 mm wide.
                                           21 Leaf blades M-shaped in cross section when young, adaxial surface with 2 marginal veins more prominent than midvein and other marginal veins, sometimes apparent only on proximal leaves and on proximal part of blade.