Common Name: sedge
Type: Rush or Sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Native Range: Central and eastern North America
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 0.75 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: March to April
Bloom Description: Green pistillate spikes and purple-brown staminate spikes
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize
Leaf: Evergreen
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Dry Soil
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist, rich, well-draining soils in part shade to dappled shade. Can be grown in rocky soils and will adapt to dry shade. Will spread by short rhizomes, but not aggressively. Spreading is reduced in dry soils. Hardy in Zones 4-8.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Carex plantaginea, commonly called plantain-leaved sedge or seersucker sedge, is a clump-forming sedge native to moist, wooded slopes from the southern Appalachian Mountains north through the eastern United States and the Great Lakes region to southeastern Canada. Mature plants will reach up to 0.75-1' tall and around 1-2' wide. The evergreen, lanceolate leaves emerge from red-purple basal sheaths, reaching upwards of 12" long and 1.25" wide with a prominent midrib, two conspicuous lateral veins (one on either side of the midrib), and a puckered or dimpled appearance. The 12" tall, upright inflorescences emerge in spring bearing 2-4, 0.5-1.5" long, green spikes of pistillate (female) flowers, with a terminal, 0.5-0.75" long, purple-brown spike of staminate (male) flowers.
Genus name from Latin means cutter in reference to the sharp leaves and stem edges (rushes are round but sedges have edges) found on most species' plants.
The specific epithet plantaginea means "resembling plantain", in reference to the relatively wide, puckered foliage of this species which superficially resembles the leaves of some species of plantain (genus Plantago).
The common names plantain-leaved sedge and seersucker sedge refer to the appearance of the foliage.
Problems
No known pest or disease problems of note. Deer tend to avoid this plant.
Uses
A highly ornamental woodland sedge. Textural accent for shade gardens, woodland gardens, rock gardens, and path edges. Can be massed to create a ground cover.