Greater Pond-sedge - Carex riparia

Description

Tall, tussock forming plant reaching 100 to 150 cm in height. Spreading by strong rhizomes. Leaves quite erect and fairly broad (6 to 15 mm wide). Male spikelets 3 to 6 being 2 to 6 cm long, brown. Female spikelets are 3 to 10 cm by 10 to 12 mm wide.

Similar Species

Carex acutiformis and other aquatic sedges

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Ponds, marshy areas, wet ditches and stream sides.

When to see it

Fruiting June to September.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Common in most of Britain, scarcer in Scotland and absent in the north of that country.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 176 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Greater Pond-sedge, Great Pond-Sedge
Species group:
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Cyperaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
55
First record:
21/06/2001 (Jane McPhail;John Kramer)
Last record:
25/06/2023 (Nicholls, David)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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