Carex flacca, with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, (syn. Carex glauca), is a species of sedge

Sedge

- Plants :* Acorus calamus, sweet flag, a plant in the Acoraceae family* Any of the plants in the family Cyperaceae- Animals :* A collective noun for several species of birds, including bitterns, cranes and herons* Sedge-fly, caddisfly- Other uses :...

 native to parts of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

.

It is frequent in a range of habitats, including grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

s, moorland

Moorland

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...

s, exposed and disturbed soil, and the upper edges of salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

es. It has naturalized

Naturalisation (biology)

In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....

 in eastern North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Description

Carex flacca leaves are blue-green above, glaucous beneath, to 6–12 in (15.2–30.5 cm) in height. The arching leaves are about as long as the inflorescence, 12–16 in (30.5–40.6 cm). The plant spreads in expanding clumps by lateral shoots rooting.

Most stems have two male spikes, close together and often looking like one at first glance. Fruits are 2–2½ mm, roundish, with a very short beak, under 0.3 mm. They are densely packed on the spike, not loose and gappy like Carex panicea.

Female spikes are approximately 2–4 cm long and 4–6 mm wide. Female spikes are typically two, and can be short-stalked and upright, or longer-stalked and nodding.

Cultivation

Carex flacca is cultivated by plant nurseries as an ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

, planted for accent or as a groundcover

Groundcover

Groundcover refers to any plant that grows over an area of ground, used to provide protection from erosion and drought, and to improve its aesthetic appearance .- Ecosystem :...

 in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s and public landscapes. It is also used in drought tolerant landscaping and erosion control plantings. It grows in sun to part shade settings.