''Carex merritt-fernaldii'', or Fernald's sedge, is a species of

sedge The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

from northeastern North America. It was first described by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1923. It is named after botanist

Merritt Fernald Merritt Lyndon Fernald (October 5, 1873 – September 22, 1950) was an American botanist. He was a respected scholar of the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. During his ...

. This species can be found in a variety of places, such as

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are com ...

, balds, ledges, meadows and fields, and woodlands, as well as

anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...

surroundings. It is a perennial that has two types of stems - some with flower/fruit clusters (spikes) at their summits, known as reproductive stems, and others that lack spikes, known as vegetative stems. Stems are triangular. Its habitat is sandy or rocky acidic sterile soils, but it can also be found in drying peat blogs.

References

merritt-fernaldii Plants described in 1923 Taxa named by Kenneth Kent Mackenzie {{Carex-stub