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Description:
Golden sedge, a perennial herb, growing to approximately 1 meter or more in height is endemic to restricted locations in coastal southeastern North Carolina. The grasslike leaves are yellowish green in color, mostly basal growing up to 28 cm in height while vegetative leaves may reach 65 cm in length. Fertile stems produce two to four flowering spikes; the terminal spike being male and the one to three (2) lateral spikes being female. The lateral flowering spikes are subtended by leaflike bracts. The terminal male spike is approximately 2 to 4 cm in length and 1.5 to 2.5 mm in width with a peduncle (stalk) approximately 1 to 6 cm in length. The female spikes are round to elliptic, approximately 1 to 1.5 cm in length by 1 cm in width. The upper female spike is sessile while the lower female spikes, if present, have peduncles approximately 0.5 to 4.5 cm in length. When two to three female spikes are present, each is separated from the next, along the culm, by a distance of 4.5 to 18 cm. The perigynia (sac which encloses the ovary) are inflated, bright yellow in color at flowering and approximately 4 to 5 mm in length. The perigynia beaks (point) are out-curved and spreading, with the lowermost in a strongly reflexed (turned downward) spike. Golden sedge is most readily identified from mid-April to mid-June during flowering and during its fruiting period. It is distinguished from other Carex species that occur in the same habitat by its bright yellow coloration (particularly the pistillate (female) spikes), by its height and slenderness, and especially by the out-curved beaks of the crowded perigynia, the lowermost of which are reflexed (Federal Register 1999).
Habitat:
Golden sedge inhabits wet savannahs with sandy soils underlain by coquina limestone. This somewhat open, calcareous habitat is highly unusual on the Atlantic Coastal Plain (Weakley, 2002). Soils supporting the species are very wet to periodically shallowly inundated. Golden sedge prefers the ecotone (narrow transition zone between two diverse ecological communities) between the pine savanna and adjacent wet hardwood or hardwood/conifer forest (Federal Register 1999). Common associated plants may include other rare plants such as Cooley's meadowrue (Thalictrum cooleyi), pineland plantain (Plantago sparsiflora), and Thorne's beakrush (Rhynchospora thornei). Golden sedge occurs mostly in the somewhat shaded ecotone between savannah and swamp (Weakley 2002). Most golden sedge plants occur in the partially shaded savanna/swamp where occasional to frequent fires create an herbaceous ground layer and suppress shrub growth. Other associate plant species may include yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), red maple (Acer rubrum var. trilobum), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera), colic root (Aletris farinosa), and several species of beakrush (Rhynchospora spp.). All extant golden sedge populations are in the northeast Cape Fear River watershed in Pender and Onslow counties, North Carolina (Federal Register, 1999). Richard LeBlond discovered the species in southeastern coastal North Carolina (LeBlond 2003).
Range:
The species is probably highly localized as it is found in an unusual habitat. There are 6 populations known in the world, all in Onslow and Pender counties, North Carolina (NatureServe 2003). The Federal Register document (linked below) contains additional information on golden sedge and its status.
References
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