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Pill Sedge

Pill Sedge

Carex pilulifera

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How common: Common

Pill Sedge is a small, tuft‑forming sedge that makes tight mounds of narrow leaves. Its flower heads are tiny, round balls that give the plant its name. You can spot it in dry, sunny places such as rocky slopes, heaths and open woods.

Did you know?

  • The name “Pill Sedge” comes from its little round, pill‑like flower heads.
  • It has two subspecies: one widespread in Europe and one native to the Azores.

About the species

Identification

Tuft‑forming, 10–40 cm. Stems thin, first upright then arching after flowering, slightly rough near the top. Leaves flat, yellow‑green, 1.5–3 mm wide, shorter than the stems. Flowering shoots have one narrow male cluster at the tip and, close below it, 2–4 tiny, round, ball‑like heads (5–8 mm) of female flowers; a stiff little leaf often sticks out below the lowest head and can be longer than the head. Later the heads show many small, gray‑green, short‑hairy, pear‑ to round‑shaped fruits. The neat spherical heads set it apart from sedges with long, cylindrical heads. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Grasses, sedges and rushes

Habitat

rock

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Grows on dry to moderately dry grasslands, stony slopes and rocks, and in light, open forests and clearings. Common in Åland and southern Finland; rare in southeast Finland and along the west coast.

Sources

Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carex pilulifera kz10.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Kulttuuriympäristöt: kedot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40381

Text: Pinkka: A Pohjolan kasveja - Carex, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40381

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virnasara

See also