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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Softleaf Sedge - Carex disperma

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4
C-value: 6


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Rhizomatous. Stems erect, 10–50 cm, somewhat tufted. Leaves basal and lower-cauline; blades 1–3 mm wide. Inflorescence of 2 to 6 sessile, remote to overlapping spikes, bractless. Spikes 2–5 mm long, all similar; few male flowers above the female. Perigynia 1 to 3 per spike, spreading to ascending, green to tan, red-veined, glabrous, elliptic, 2–3 mm long with an obscure beak; stigmas 2. Female scales ovate, hyaline with a tan midvein, shorter and narrower than the perigynia. Achene 2-sided, filling the perigynium (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native
 


Range Comments
Circumboreal south to CA, NM, IN and NJ (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 300

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Wet, organic soil, often beneath shrubs, in swamps, fens, wet coniferous forest; valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Culver, D.R. 1994. Floristic analysis of the Centennial Region, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman. 199 pp.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Williams, K.L. 2012. Classification of the grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, forests and alpine vegetation associations of the Custer National Forest portion of the Beartooth Mountains in southcentral Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 376 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Softleaf Sedge"
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Citation for data on this website:
Softleaf Sedge — Carex disperma.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from