Plant types and subtypes: Grasses, Sedges, Wetland Grasses
Light Requirements: sun
Water Use: high
Soil Moisture: wet
Soil Description: poor
Height: 1'-4'
Leaf Color: green
Hardiness Zone: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Additional Tags: attracts birds, bog plant, emergent, mat-forming, stream margin plant, wetland plant
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Description
Carex aquatilis
Also known as:water sedge
,leafy tussock sedge
Description
Carex aquatilis will vary in height, depending on local conditions, from 1' to over 4'. The leaves are narrow, up to 1/4 across, and borne at the base of the plant's triangular stem. It has an open form, with individual stems emerging from a rhizomatous root system. The seed heads are up to 2' long, and rather distinctive.
Cultivation
Carex aquatilis is a sod-forming, grass-like wetland plant, adapted to constant moisture and grows on the water's edge, or in shallow water. It will tolerate poor, oxygen starved environments, and disturbed soil. The root system forms dense fibrous mats, making the species a good choice for erosion control, and stream bank stabilization. It requires full sun. Water sedge is circumboreal, with a native range extending form the Arctic as far south as as Virginia. Zones 2-7
Propagation
Propagate by seed, or root division.
Additional Notes
Carex aquatilis is a valuable late season source of fodder for browsing mammals, and a source of food and shelter for many species of water fowl.
Native Range & Classification
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data
Native Range:
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SD, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WY
USDA Endangered Status:
- Endangered: NJ
- Threatened: PA
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants | |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants | |
| Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants | |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants | |
| Class | Liliopsida | Monocotyledons | |
| Subclass | Commelinidae | ||
| Order | Cyperales | ||
| Family | Cyperaceae | Sedge family | |
| Genus | Carex | sedge | |
| Species | Carex aquatilis | water sedge |