Carex paleacea commonly known as chaffy sedge is one of the 579 species of "Carex". As summer progresses, the flower head becomes a ball of whitish chaffy seeds. The flower head bracts are wooly, and pale below, with dark chaffy hairless tips. The name is derived from "palea" (chaff), referring to the chaffy receptacle. The bracts of the flower heads have a green centre, and chaffy brown edges.