Scientific name: Carex humilis

Status: Nationally scarce

Flowering time: March – April. Fruit produced April – July.

Description: Very small tuft of narrow, emerald-green leaves with spikes of yellow flowers. Long living perennial.

Social history: This plant is a good indicator species of ancient limestone grassland.

Taxonomy: Cyperaceae (flowering plants known as sedges. They resemble grasses but have a different structure, e.g. solid stems).

Global and national distribution: The Wye Valley is its most northern UK site. It has a temperate distribution across Europe and Asia.

Threats: Shading out from fast growing larger plants like Holm oak. This sedge needs ants to disperse its seeds.