FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Carex chordorrhiza, String Sedge, Vetrarkviðastör

Carex chordorrhiza; the String Sedge is a 20 to 40cm tall sedge. It grows from long prostrate (above ground) stems (also called vegetative shoots) and as such quite unique among the Icelandic sedges. These prostrate stems form leaves at the nodes.
  The leaves are rather flat/slightly keeled 2mm wide and 3-5cm long. Several leaves are in the lower half of inflorescence stem, more or less appressed to the stem i.e. pointing upwards. Next to inflorescence culms they also produce vegetative culms: low culms made up of leaves with overlapping sheaths. They can produce inflorescences in a following year. No basal rosettes are formed.
  The spikes are concentrated at the top of the culm. All bear a few male flowers on top. The lowest bract is a scale about ¼ to ⅓ of the inflorescence. The scales above are smaller, just overlapping the flowers. The female flowers have 2 stigma's. The utricles are short-beaked. Note that the nearly round culm tends to nod down while maturing.
  It is common on Iceland. It can be found in bogs and other marshes.
   It is a member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae). The Icelandic name of this species is Vetrarkviðastör.