FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Carex bigelowii, Stiff Sedge, Stinnastör

Carex bigelowii; The Stiff Sedge is a small to medium-sized sedge reaching up to 40cm or less. Single basal rosettes from which culms emerge grow from rootstocks.
  - The leaves usually are "M"-shaped in a cross section (note: in the similar C. nigra it is "V"-shaped). The bracts are rather short with small, usually black, sheaths. The lowest bract about as long as the spike, shorter than the inflorescence. The erect culm is stiff.
  - The inflorescence consists of a terminal male spike and a few (usually two) closely spaced female spikes just under the terminal spike. The scales are very dark with a lighter midrib. The scales of the male spike have more rounded apex's than the scales on the female spikes. The female flowers have two stigmas. The utricles are lens-shaped.
  - It is very common on Iceland to be found in all regions but for the sandy deserts. It grows on rather dry soils, moss carpets and occasionally near highland bogs.
  - It is a member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae). The Icelandic name of this species is Stinnastör.

The Stiff Sedge (Carex bigelowii) resembles the other very common sedge on Iceland, being the Common Sedge (Carex nigra). The fundamental differences are:
- The spikes are compactly grouped at the top of the stiff sedge flowering stalk, whereas they are more freely spaced along the flowering stalk in the common sedge;
- The number of flowers/utricles on the female spikes is considerably less on the stiff sedge than on the common sedge;
- The leaf margins are rolled down in the stiff sedge (not in the Common Sedge upwards);
- Very characteristic are the black bands on the sheaths below the bracts of the spikes, especially of the lowest spike, on the stiff sedge. The common sedge misses this feature. The lowest bract of the Common Sedge is much longer, about as long as the inflorescence.