Settle Wildflowers - Day 40 - Green 4 - Three more sedges

Three Sedges: 

Hairy Sedge. Carex hirta:   "Weedy habitats", 
Wood Sedge Carex sylvatica   "Woodland"
Tall Yellow Sedge Carex lepidocarpa  (Carex viridula subsp brachyrrhynca)  "Base rich flushes"

Sedges have edges - triangular stems and triangular sheaths.


Hairy Sedge. Carex hirta:

This is an easy sedge to recognize. It has hairy leaves - especially hairy at the top of the inner face of the sheath. It has thick spreading rhizomes. The leaves are fairly dark and shiny. There are separate plants with a few leaves all growing separately because the rhizome pushes through the soil to give rise  to new shoots.

This one was growing by the path by the netting where new trees have been planted south of Stainforth Foss.

Hairy Sedge - female spike, the utricles are hairy, each one has 3 stigmas. Utricles are flask shaped structures, with the fruit inside

Hairy Sedge - Male spikes. See the anthers hanging from the male flowers

    

Wood Sedge Carex sylvatica

Weed sedge grows in woods , especially base rich woods - This plant was in Lord's Weed.  

Wood Sedge - 3 June - 

Tall Yellow Sedge Carex lepidocarpa  (Carex viridula subsp brachyrrhynca)

 The yellow sedges grow in wet flushes and the Tall Yellow Sedge needs it to be a calcareous flush. Whilst there is lots of this habitat up at Malham Tarn and on Ingleborough there is not much habitat like this very close to Settle.  However there is a stream beside the steep road leaving Langcliffe for Malham where I was able to find these plants on 28 May
 


June is the best month for sedges.