About Carex leptalea Wahlenb.
Carex leptalea Wahlenb. is a species of sedge with the common names bristly-stalked sedge and flaccid sedge. It is native to a large portion of North America, including most of Canada, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. This species grows exclusively in wetlands. It produces dense clusters of thin stems that reach up to 70 centimeters tall, growing from a network of branching rhizomes. Its thin, deep green leaves are soft, hairless, and sometimes drooping. The plant's yellow-green inflorescence is up to 16 millimeters long and only 2 to 3 millimeters wide. Each spikelet bears only a few perigynia, which are green and veined. Three subspecies are recognized: Carex leptalea subsp. harperi (Fernald) W.Stone, found in the southeastern United States, ranging from Texas and Florida north to Missouri and Pennsylvania; Carex leptalea subsp. leptalea, which has a wide distribution from Alaska east to Nunavut, and south to California and the Dominican Republic; and Carex leptalea subsp. pacifica Calder & Roy L.Taylor, which occurs in Washington State, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska.
