Carex pulicaris Flea Sedge

A small sedge of mesotrophic mires, flushes and marshy grasslands. The lax, few flowered spikes are very distinctive when it is in fruit but it is easy to overlook. The somewhat long-elliptical utricles become deflexed at maturity and are very sensitive to touch, appearing to spring off the stem like a flee when disturbed, hence the common name. It is frequent in suitable habitats on the Gower Commons and in flushes and marshy grassland in the uplands. It has dereased in many areas of Neath Port Talbot as a result of habitat destruction resulting from land use changes and neglect.

Native