Carex spicata

The most useful field mark is the purple pigment found in the roots, leaf sheaths and bracts. This feature separates Carex spicata from the other species in its section, Phaestoglochin.

The culms are 10–85 centimetres long and roughly triangular in cross-section. The leaves are 7–45 centimetres long and 2–4 millimetres wide, with a distinct keel along the midrib. At the base of each leaf, the ligule is 4–8 millimetres long and contains a large amount of loose white tissue.

The inflorescence is 4–8 centimetres long and holds 3–8 spikes. Each spike is 5–10 millimetres long, with female flowers at its base and male flowers at its tip.

Carex spicata has a European temperate distribution. Its native range runs from Madeira and much of Europe east to southwestern Siberia and northwestern Iran, including Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Iberia, Italy and the Balkans.

Outside this range, the species has spread widely. It has established in parts of the northeastern United States, including New York, Pennsylvania and New England states, as well as in Ontario, Nova Scotia, the South Island of New Zealand and Primorye in Russia.

It grows mainly in grassland, including fields, pastures and lawns. In the British Isles it is usually found in the British NVC community MG10. It also occurs on roadsides and in waste ground, from sea level up to 300 metres.

It favors heavy, slightly base-rich soils. It cannot tolerate much competition from other plants, which limits it to open ground. Observations cluster in late spring and early summer, peaking in June.

Carex spicata is a graminoid, a grass-like plant with narrow leaves and slender stems. It is a perennial, so it persists from year to year rather than completing its life in one season.

Its culms rise from the base as upright, three-angled stems, and its keeled leaves give the plant a tufted, grass-like appearance.

Grasshoppers are among the main consumers of Carex spicata. Species such as Chorthippus parallelus feed on its foliage, and other grasshoppers in the genera Gomphocerippus and Omocestus share this habit.

True bugs, beetles, moth caterpillars and flies also feed on the plant. Among the moths, species such as Apamea scolopacina feed on its tissues. Smaller wasps and waterfowl appear among its less common partners.

The plant needs open, heavy, slightly base-rich soils with little competition from taller plants, so it thrives where grazing and disturbance keep other vegetation low.