Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota

The Complete Guide to Species Identification

2018
•
Author:

Welby R. Smith
Photography by Richard Haug

The first comprehensive, fully illustrated field guide to Minnesota’s nearly 250 species of sedges and rushes

With its finely detailed photographs and descriptions, Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota enables quick and reliable identification of these often difficult-to-distinguish species. As an in-depth introduction or a handy field guide, the book is the first complete, comprehensive reference on these important plants of Minnesota, an invaluable resource for specialists, naturalists, and wild plant lovers.

Welby Smith has followed up on his wonderful Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and created another gem with Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota. Smith takes the intimidating world of rushes and sedges and chronicles them in an easy-to-use field guide and resource that is the first of its kind for the state. This is a magnificent resource that will no doubt by used by botanists, naturalists, interpreters, and nature enthusiasts for generations to come.

—

Bryan Wood, Executive Director, Audubon Center of the North Woods

When most of us encounter a sea of what seem like grasses, we don’t know if we’re looking at a bog or a fen, a swamp or a marsh or a meadow. What we’re seeing probably aren’t even grasses. They are sedges and rushes, which frequently make up the majority of plants in a wetland—and they can tell us, by their presence and pattern of occurrence, what kind of wetland it is. Quick to respond to changes in habitat, they are good indicators of ecological conditions. As significant as they are in the natural environment, sedges and rushes are also simply beautiful—noteworthy features in a garden and in the wild.

This book is an expert, accessible guide to the nearly 250 species of sedges and rushes in Minnesota. With its finely detailed photographs and descriptions, Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota enables quick and reliable identification of these often difficult-to-distinguish species. As an in-depth introduction or a handy field guide, the book is the first complete, comprehensive reference on these important plants of Minnesota—an invaluable resource for specialists, naturalists, and wild plant lovers.

Welby R. Smith is the Minnesota State Botanist with the Department of Natural Resources in Saint Paul. He is author of Native Orchids of Minnesota and Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and a contributor to Minnesota’s Endangered Flora and Fauna, all from the University of Minnesota Press.

Richard Haug has been a native plant enthusiast and photographer for thirty-five years.

Welby Smith has followed up on his wonderful Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and created another gem with Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota. Smith takes the intimidating world of rushes and sedges and chronicles them in an easy-to-use field guide and resource that is the first of its kind for the state. This is a magnificent resource that will no doubt by used by botanists, naturalists, interpreters, and nature enthusiasts for generations to come.

—

Bryan Wood, Executive Director, Audubon Center of the North Woods

This hefty volume brings care and expertise to a regional plant species study.

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ARBAonline

Any reader who picks up this guide will be consumed with the rare and curious disease of sedge fever, in which sufferers are compelled to know and key out all the rushes and sedges, even those without edges.

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CHOICE

If you are looking at a plant catalogue trying to decide which sedge to add to your yard, you can use this book to find the plant’s distribution and habitat.

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The Trumpeter

Overall, this book provides an excellent, user-friendly guide to the sedges and rushes of Minnesota. I recommend it highly to all field biologists involved in botanical inventories in the central part of the continent, and to students of these two families in general.

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The Canadian Field-Naturalist

This book is thoroughly referenced, clearly written, and beautifully illustrated. Professional botanists throughout Minnesota and the Midwest will definitely want to have this book in their field pack or on their shelf.

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The Great Lakes Botanist

The individual accounts are thorough, accurate and include good field characters that are useful in separating the species covered with others it could be confused with.

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Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Minnesota County Map

Introduction

Key to the Genera of Sedges and Rushes in Minnesota

The genus Bolboschoenus

The genus Bulbostylis

The genus Carex

Carex section Acrocystis

Carex section Albae

Carex section Ammoglochin

Carex section Bicolores

Carex section Carex

Carex section Careyanae

Carex section Ceratocystis

Carex section Chlorostachyae

Carex section Chordorrhizae

Carex section Clandestinae

Carex section Deweyanae

Carex section Dispermae

Carex section Divisae

Carex section Filifoliae

Carex section Glareosae

Carex section Granulares

Carex section Griseae

Carex section Heleoglochin

Carex section Hirtifoliae

Carex section Holarrhenae

Carex section Hymenochlaenae

Carex section Lamprochlaenae

Carex section Laxiflorae

Carex section Leptocephalae

Carex section Leucoglochin

Carex section Limosae

Carex section Lupulinae

Carex section Multiflorae

Carex section Obtusatae

Carex section Ovales

Carex section Paludosae

Carex section Paniceae

Carex section Phacocystis

Carex section Phaestoglochin

Carex section Phyllostachyae

Carex section Physoglochin

Carex section Porocystis

Carex section Racemosae

Carex section Rostrales

Carex section Scirpinae

Carex section Squarrosae

Carex section Stellulatae

Carex section Vesicariae

Carex section Vulpinae

The genus Cladium

The genus Cyperus

The genus Dulichium

The genus Eleocharis

The genus Eriophorum

The genus Fimbristylis

The genus Juncus

The genus Luzula

The genus Rhynchospora

The genus Schoenoplectiella

The genus Schoenoplectus

The genus Scirpus

The genus Scleria

The genus Trichophorum

Glossary

Bibliography

Index