Plant for ID

[Looking]

Hi,
I have been tying to find a name for this plant. It is very common around these here parts. I keep finding insects on this plant as I walk down pathways like the one shown here. I would really like to know what it is. It has defeated my efforts so far. Can anyone help.


Thanks Dave

[Gill Catton]

hmm looks like a sedge......
perhaps pedulous sedge Carex pendula - but there's no way I can be certain from these photographs. ID of sedges is beyond me most of the time even with a specimen!!

[Paul mabbott]

Are these in woods? Are they flowering at the moment? If so, I would suggest woodrush - Luzula sylvatica

Originally Posted by Looking

Hi,
I have been tying to find a name for this plant. It is very common around these here parts. I keep finding insects on this plant as I walk down pathways like the one shown here. I would really like to know what it is. It has defeated my efforts so far. Can anyone help.


Thanks Dave

[Looking]

Humm,
Both your Id's look very similar to what I have been seeing. It is in woodland along pathways. It seems to be growing best in very wet areas, but as the pic shows also can be seen in dry places too.

Sorry about the pic, I should have got a close shot of it.

I guess its possible I have been seeing both and not realised they are different.

What do I need to be looking for to distinguished them apart. The flowers is that the main key here.

Thanks Paul, Gill

Dave

[Tiggrx]

It is certainly a sedge rather than a woodrush (woodrushes have flat leaves in cross section whereas your plant has leaves M-shaped in cross-section). I would say the plant is almost certainly Carex pendula

[Paul mabbott]

As Tiggrx says, you should tell sedge from rush by the leaf/stalk cross-sections.
If it's any help, this is the flower of Luzula sylvatica

Originally Posted by Looking

Humm,
Both your Id's look very similar to what I have been seeing. It is in woodland along pathways. It seems to be growing best in very wet areas, but as the pic shows also can be seen in dry places too.
Sorry about the pic, I should have got a close shot of it.
I guess its possible I have been seeing both and not realised they are different.
What do I need to be looking for to distinguished them apart. The flowers is that the main key here.
Thanks Paul, Gill
Dave

[Kayleigh]

I think the carex has rusty coloured pendular bracks. They grow in damp or dry conditions I grew some from seed but never noticed any insects on them and dug them up.

[Looking]

Thanks all,
The stalks are M shaped, but just to make sure, I took a close look at the flowers yesterday on my walk, and it is indeed sedge.

Another mystery solved on the forum.
Dave