Spikes:

Separate staminate (male) and pistillate (female) spikes, with a single staminate spike up to 1½ inches long at the tip of the stem. Below the staminate spike are 1 to 3 pistillate spikes, 3/8 to 1 3/8 inches (1 to 3.5 cm) long, widely spaced, the uppermost stalkless or nearly so, the lowest usually on an erect stalk. At the base of the lowest pistillate stalk is an erect, leaf-like bract that does not overtop the terminal spike and has a sheath up to 1½ inches (4 cm) long.

Leaves and stems:

Leaves are alternate, number 3 to 6 all on the lower stem, blue-green or gray-green, erect to ascending, 2.5 to 7 mm wide, and shorter than the flowering stem. Stem leaf sheaths are white on the front, concave at the tip and tightly wrap the stem. The ligule (membrane where the leaf joins the sheath) is about as wide as or wider than long, rounded across the tip.

Bases are wrapped in a brown or sometimes red-tinged sheath that is not much fibrous. Stems are single or a few together, slender, mostly erect, 3-sided, smooth except near the spikes, elongating up to 24 inches at maturity and longer than the leaves. Plants form loose colonies from long rhizomes.

Fruit:

Fruit develops in late spring to early summer, the pistillate spikes forming clusters of seeds (achenes), each wrapped in a casing (perigynium), subtended by a scale. Pistillate spikes each contain 8 to 30 fruits that are ascending to spreading, overlapping on the stalk, and usually tightly packed in about 6 columns, the mature spike 4.5 to 7 mm diameter.

Pistillate scales are oval to egg-shaped, blunt to pointed at the tip, white to dark chestnut or purplish-brown along the edges with a broad green midrib that may extend to a an awn shorter than the scale body, and are half to nearly as long as the perigynia. Perigynia are 2.5 to 5 mm long, 1.4 to 2.5 mm wide, 4 to 12-veined (best seen when dry), hairless, yellowish-green, loosely wrapping the achene, nearly round in cross-section, often with a minute, bent, toothless beak at the tip. Achenes are 2.75 to 3.5 mm long, 1.4 to 2.5 mm wide, 3-sided in cross-section, reddish to dark brown at maturity.

Notes:

Carex meadii is a fairly common sedge in Minnesota, found in about half the state. most often in dry to mesic prairie, grassy slopes, rock outcrops and railroad rights-of-way, occasionally in wetland margins or wet meadows.

Carex is a large genus, with over 600 species in North America and 150+ in Minnesota alone. They are grouped into sections, the species in each group having common traits. Carex meadii is in the Paniceae section; some of its common traits are: clump forming or not, rhizomatous, hairless leaves, basal sheaths brown or red-purple, sheaths sometimes fibrous, 2 to 4 spikes, terminal spike all-staminate, lateral spikes all-pistillate and stalked, leaf-like bract subtending the lowest pistillate spike with a sheath more than 4 mm long, perigynia ascending to spreading, hairless, weakly 3-sided to round in cross-section, beaked or not, at least slightly inflated, achenes 3-sided in cross-section.

Carex meadii is distinguished from all other Minnesota sedges by the combination of: not clump-forming, long-rhizomatous forming loose colonies; blue-green or gray-green foliage, largest leaves 4 to 7 mm wide; a single terminal staminate spike; 1 to 3 pistillate spikes each containing 8 to 30 tightly packed fruits, the upper spike stalkless and the lowest usually on an erect stalk; perigynia 2.5 to 5 mm long, loosely wrapping the achene, often with a short, bent, toothless beak; achenes 3-sided, up to 2.5 mm wide.

Carex meadii most closely resembles Carex tetanica and it can be very difficult to distinguish them. Per Flora of North America: “Separating Carex meadii and C. tetanica can be problematic, particularly in the Great Lakes region where they seem to intergrade with each other.” Indeed. The general consensus across its range is C. meadii is more likely to be found in drier habitats than C. tetanica, its spikes tend to be thicker (4.5 to 7 mm vs. 3.5 to 5.5 mm), the perigynia more tightly packed in more columns (up to 6 vs. 2 to 4 and more loosely arranged), its perigynia often with a minute, bent beak (vs. a more tapering, beakless tip), its achenes broader (usually over 1.5 mm wide vs. usually under 1.5 mm wide), its leaves more blue-green to gray-green, the widest 4 to 7 mm wide (vs. dark or yellow-green, 3 to 4.5 mm wide), and ligule mostly wider than long (vs. mostly longer than wide). Note there is overlap on many of these traits, but the most consistent differences I saw in herbarium specimens were C. meadii in relatively dry habitats, the short, bent beak on many (not all) perigynia, and achenes wider than 1.5 mm. I've read the widest leaves (to 7 mm) are most likely seen on vegetative shoots, not necessarily on fertile stems, and can be hard to spot.