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Hummock Sedge

Carex stricta Lam.

Comments

provided by eFloras
Although no specimens are known from Arkansas, Georgia, or South Carolina, Carex stricta may be expected there.

This may be the most common wetland sedge in eastern North America, often called tussock sedge for the distinctive large clumps that form in seasonally flooded sites. Plants in drier sites often have a more rhizomatous growth form.

Carex stricta is morphologically variable throughout its range in degree of scabrosity and color of the proximal sheaths, perigynium shape, and length of the inflorescence bract. Coastal populations south of Massachusetts usually lack epidermal papillae but are not otherwise distinguishable from plants from other regions.

Carex stricta is frequently confused with C. haydenii; they are similar in their size, growth form, and inflorescence dimensions; Carex stricta can be distinguished by the veined, flattened ovoid perigynia with short scales. This species has been reported to hybridize with C. aquatilis and has been observed to form hybrids with C. nigra.

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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
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Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Description

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Plants cespitose; flowering from first-year shoots. Culms acutely angled, 50–150 cm, scabrous. Leaves: basal sheaths red-brown; sheaths of proximal leaves bladeless, scabrous, fronts with red-brown spots, prominently ladder-fibrillose, apex red-brown, U-shaped, occasionally thickened; blades 4–6 mm wide. Inflorescences: proximal bract shorter than or subequal to inflorescence, 3–4.5 mm wide. Spikes erect; staminate 2(–3); pistillate 3–4; proximal pistillate spike 1.6–10.8 cm × 3–5 mm, base cuneate or attenuate. Pistillate scales red-brown, shorter than perigynia, apex acute, awnless. Perigynia ascending, pale brown, occasionally with red-brown spots on apical 1/2, 0–5-veined on each face, somewhat flattened, loosely enclosing achenes, ovoid, 1.7–3.4 × 0.8–1.8 mm, dull, apex acute or obtuse, papillose; beak thickened, 0.1–0.2 mm. Achenes not constricted, dull. 2n = 66, 68.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of North America @ eFloras.org
editor
Flora of North America Editorial Committee
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eFloras.org
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eFloras

Distribution

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N.B., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Conn., Del., D.C., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, R.I., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of North America @ eFloras.org
editor
Flora of North America Editorial Committee
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Flowering/Fruiting

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Fruiting May–Jun.
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copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of North America @ eFloras.org
editor
Flora of North America Editorial Committee
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Habitat

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Marshes, bogs, wet meadows, shores; 0–1600m.
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copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of North America @ eFloras.org
editor
Flora of North America Editorial Committee
project
eFloras.org
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Synonym

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Carex stricta var. curtissima Peck; C. stricta var. strictior (Dewey) J. Carey; C. stricta var. xerocarpa (S. H. Wright) Britton; C. strictior Dewey; C. xerocarpa S. H. Wright
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 23: 254, 379, 381, 385, 389, 390, 391, 394, 395 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of North America @ eFloras.org
editor
Flora of North America Editorial Committee
project
eFloras.org
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eFloras

Common Names

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
tussock sedge
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cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Description

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: achene, fruit

Tussock sedge is a rhizomatous sedge reaching a height of about 3 feet
(1 m) [16].  The long narrow leaves are 0.25 inches (0.6 cm) wide and
about 2.5 feet (75 cm) long [19].  The wirelike rhizomes are usually
found in the top 6 inches (15 cm) of the soil and are variable in length
[5].  The fruit is an achene [14].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Distribution

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
Tussock sedge occurs from Newfoundland south to the Carolinas and
Tennessee and from Manitoba south to eastern Oklahoma and Texas
[12,14,19,20].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Fire Ecology

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: cover, fire regime, marsh, natural, peat, shrubs, tussock

The rhizomes of tussock sedge make it resistant to fires that burn
little of the soil organic layer.  Fire is important to the maintenance
of the sedge meadow community where tussock sedge grows [5,6].  It is a
natural feature of this environment and prevents the encroachment of
shrubs and trees.  The wet habitat usually protects the roots and
rhizomes from fire.  During severe droughts or when the meadows have
been partially or completely drained, however, fire has serious effects.
Underlying peat beds may ignite and smolder for long periods of time
Such fires can destroy roots of most plants.  By lowering the meadow
surface and reducing plant cover, such fires may also convert a sedge
meadow to an emergent marsh community [5,10].

Tussock sedge probably colonizes burned areas by seeds and rhizomes.

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Fire Management Considerations

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: competition, fire intensity, fire management, forest, frequency, fuel, fuel moisture, herb, litter, reaction intensity, short-term effects, shrub, surface fire, tussock, woodland

NO-ENTRY

FIRE CASE STUDY
SPECIES: Carex stricta
FIRE CASE STUDY CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo, compiler. 1994. Effect of prescribed burning on tussock sedge in
quaking aspen woodlands in southern Ontario. In: Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects
Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available: https://www.fs.fed.us
/database/feis/ [
var months = new Array(12);
months[0] = "January";
months[1] = "February";
months[2] = "March";
months[3] = "April";
months[4] = "May";
months[5] = "June";
months[6] = "July";
months[7] = "August";
months[8] = "September";
months[9] = "October";
months[10] = "November";
months[11] = "December";
var date = new Date();
var year = date.getFullYear();
var month = date.getMonth();
var day = date.getDate();
document.write(year+", "+months[month]+" "+day);
].


REFERENCES :
James, T. D. W.; Smith, D. W. 1977. Short-term effects of surface fire
on the biomass and nutrient standing crop of Populus tremuloides in
southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 7: 666-679. [33].

Smith, D. W.; James, T. D. W. 1978. Changes in the shrub and herb layers
of vegetation after prescribed burning in Populus tremuloides woodland
in southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56: 1792-1797. [23].

Smith, D. W.; James, T. D. 1978. Characteristics of prescribed burns and
resultant short-term environmental changes in Populus tremuloides
woodland in southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56: 1782-1791.
[31].


SEASON/SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION :
Spring/Low


STUDY LOCATION :
The study was conducted at the Mullin Tract in West Luther Township,
Wellington County, Ontario.


PREFIRE VEGETATIVE COMMUNITY :
The prefire vegetation was dominated by an open stand of trembling aspen
(Populus tremuloides) (164 stems/ha, average d.b.h. 14 cm) with
red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) in the shrub layer.  The herb layer
was codominated by tussock sedge (Carex stricta) and bluejoint reedgrass
(Calamagrostis canadensis).


TARGET SPECIES PHENOLOGICAL STATE :
No specific information was given on the phenological state of tussock
sedge but it was probably in a preflowering condition during these
spring fires. 


SITE DESCRIPTION :
The site is at an elevation of 1,221 feet (470 m).  Mean total
precipitation is 35.4 inches per year (885 mm/yr), the average length of
the growing season is 116 days, and the July mean daily temperature is 70
degrees Fahrenheit (21 deg C).  The study was located on poorly drained,
organic muck soils approximately 1 foot (3 m) in depth.  The area had
generally low relief but consisted of a mosaic of hummocks and hollows,
the latter filled with standing water in the early spring.


FIRE DESCRIPTION :
Burn              Wind      Relative    Ambient    Dead fuel     Reaction  
plot   Date       speed     humidity      temp     combusted     intensity
                 (m/min)      (%)       (deg C)     (g/sq m)   (kw/sq m/min)
                                                    
1      5/8/72     91.7        56         14         674.7           509
2      5/8/72     87.4        58         15         750.4           375
3      4/24/73    43.5        72         13         756.2           569
4      4/24/73    68.7        43         15         651.1           489

Standard deviations are reported for wind speed, fuel combustion, and
reaction intensity data [2].

Fuel moisture content was "generally high" on the treatment plots in
both 1972 and 1973 and evidently tended to reduce fire intensity.  The
pattern of burning in both years was heterogeneous.  This was related to
the uneven microtopography and patchy distribution of fuel prior to the
fires.  Areas dominated by tussock sedge had large amounts of surface
litter and standing dead material and consequently were the most
thoroughly burned.


FIRE EFFECTS ON TARGET SPECIES :
Short-term postfire response of tussock sedge after light prescribed
surface fire in trembling aspen woodlands were as follows:

               Percent abundance   Percent frequency
Burned 4/73          43.5                87.5
Burned 5/72          70.0                96.0
Control              54.0                83.5

Abundance of burned and control populations was not significantly
different (p=0.05) at postfire year 1.  Growth of the burned population
may have been affected by scorch or by increased competition from
bluejoint reedgrass.  Tussock sedge was substantially more abundant in
the plots measured 15 months following fire.


FIRE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Growth Form (according to Raunkiær Life-form classification)

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info on this topic.

More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

  
   Hemicryptophyte
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Habitat characteristics

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
Tussock sedge is found in bogs, wet meadows, floodplains, swales,
marshes, and wet woodlands. It is found in areas where the soil is at or
just above the water level [5,12].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Habitat: Cover Types

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More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: hardwood

     1  Jack pine
    14  Northern pin oak
    15  Red pine
    16  Aspen
    17  Pin cherry
    20  White pine - northern red oak - red maple
    21  Eastern white pine
    22  White pine - hemlock
    23  Eastern hemlock
    24  Hemlock - yellow birch
    25  Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
    26  Sugar maple - basswood
    32  Red spruce
    42  Bur oak
    44  Chestnut oak
    46  Eastern redcedar
    51  White pine - chestnut oak
    52  White oak - black oak - northern red oak
    53  White oak
    55  Northern red oak
    62  Silver maple - American elm
    64  Sassafras - persimmon
    70  Longleaf pine
    81  Loblolly pine
    82  Loblolly pine - hardwood
   110  Black oak
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Habitat: Ecosystem

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES12  Longleaf - slash pine
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - birch
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie
   FRES41  Wet grasslands
license
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Habitat: Plant Associations

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More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

   K064  Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
   K067  Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
   K073  Northern cordgrass prairie
   K074  Bluestem prairie
   K079  Palmetto prairie
   K081  Oak savanna
   K082  Mosaic of K074 and K100
   K084  Cross Timbers
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest
   K099  Maple - basswood forest
   K100  Oak - hickory forest
   K101  Elm - ash forest
   K102  Beech - maple forest
   K103  Mixed mesophytic forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K107  Northern hardwoods - fir forest
   K108  Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest
   K112  Southern mixed forest
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Immediate Effect of Fire

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: top-kill, tussock

Fires that occur when meadows are moist or wet probably top-kill tussock
sedge.  The rhizomes are probably killed by severe fires that remove
most of the soil organic layer [5].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Key Plant Community Associations

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: bog, forest, tussock

Tussock sedge is a moist-site species [19].  It is often dominant in
meadows in New England and the upper Midwest [7,22].  Tussock sedge also
occurs in moist forest communities [23,31].

Common associates of tussock sedge include blueberries (Vaccinium spp.),
huckleberries (Gaylussacia spp.), common winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
bog rush (Juncus effusus), bog Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum),
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii
var. gerardii), bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), and other
sedges (Carex spp.)  [3,7,15,17].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Life Form

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Management considerations

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the term: tussock

Shrub invasion is altering sedge meadows in Wisconsin that contain
tussock sedge.  Invaded areas were consistently wetter than uninvaded
sedge meadows [29].
license
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Occurrence in North America

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     AR  CT  DE  IL  IN  IA  KS  KY  ME  MD
     MA  MI  MN  MO  NE  NH  NJ  NY  NC  ND
     OH  OK  PA  RI  SC  SD  TN  TX  VT  VA
     WV  WI  WY  MB  NB  NF  NS  ON  PE  PQ
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Phenology

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: fruit, tussock

Depending on site, tussock sedge flowers from late May to mid-June.  The
fruit ripens in August [8,17].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Plant Response to Fire

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: cover, herb, shrub, tussock

Tussock sedge is typically an increaser following fire.  In a study on
the effects of burning on sedge meadows in Wisconsin, tussock sedge was
found to occur at higher numbers on burned areas than on unburned areas
[29].  A spring fire was set in 1973 in Ontario to study the short-term
response of the shrub and herb layers.  Tussock sedge had already
emerged at the time of the fire.  Percent cover of tussock sedge was
similar in control and burned plots that summer.  Later-emerging
associated species, however, showed more vigorous postfire growth; the
initially lower cover of tussock sedge may have been due to fire damage
to early spring growth.  At postfire month 15, tussock sedge cover was
significantly (p=0.05) greater on burned plots than on unburned plots
[23].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Post-fire Regeneration

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: herb, rhizome

   Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Regeneration Processes

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: fresh, tussock

Tussock sedge regenerates primarily through rhizomes.  Two types of
rhizomes are distinguished.  Long rhizomes branch and produce distant
plants.  Short rhizomes produce culms just offset from the parent [5].

Propagation:  Propagation tests for tussock sedge in Wisconsin showed
variable results.  Seeds collected and planted within 2 weeks in 1988
were compared with seeds collected in 1987 and held in cold storage for
1 year.  Germination rates for seeds collected and planted in 1988
were 70 to 95 percent; 1-year-old seeds showed less than 15 percent
germination.  These results indicated that seeds should be planted while
still fresh, preferably within a week or two following harvest [1].
license
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Regional Distribution in the Western United States

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

   10  Wyoming Basin
   14  Great Plains
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Season/Severity Classification

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
Spring/Low

Site Description

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
The site is at an elevation of 1,221 feet (470 m).  Mean total
precipitation is 35.4 inches per year (885 mm/yr), the average length of
the growing season is 116 days, and the July mean daily temperature is 70
degrees Fahrenheit (21 deg C).  The study was located on poorly drained,
organic muck soils approximately 1 foot (3 m) in depth.  The area had
generally low relief but consisted of a mosaic of hummocks and hollows,
the latter filled with standing water in the early spring.

Successional Status

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More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: marsh, shrub, tussock

Facultative Seral Species

Tussock sedge is shade intolerant hydro-successional species in the
sedge meadow community [5,17,26].  The sedge community is preceded by an
emergent marsh community of reeds (Phragmites spp.) and/or cattails (Typha
spp.)  where the water is above the soil.  The sedge community is
followed by a shrub community of willows (Salix spp.), dogwoods (Cornus
spp.), and/or alders (Alnus spp.) as drier conditions are produced [5].
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Taxonomy

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the term: tussock

The currently accepted scientific name for tussock sedge is Carex
stricta Lam. (Cyperaceae) [13]. Some authorities recognize the variety
C. stricta var. strictior Dewey [13,28], but Standley [24] contends that
C. stricta presents no evidence of any discontinuities that would enable
recognition of intraspecific taxa.

Tussock sedge hybridizes with many other Carex species [4].
license
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Value for rehabilitation of disturbed sites

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
Tussock sedge established well in constructed wetland in Massachusetts.
It became dominant 1 to 2 years after construction [32].
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bibliographic citation
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Carex strictior Dewey, in Wood, Class-Book 582. 1845
"Carex stricta Gooden." Dewey, Am. Jour. Sci. 10: 269. 1826.
"Carex stricta Lam." Gay, Ann. Sci. Nat. 11: 197. 1839.
Carex angustata Boott, in Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 218, in small part. 1839.
Carex stricta var. strictior Carey, in A. Gray, Man. 548. 1848. (Based on C. strictior Dewey.)
Carex Watsoniana Steud. Syn. Cyp. 215. 1855. (Type from North America.)
Carex angustata var. a typica Boott, 111. Carex 173, in part. pi. 586. 1867.
Carex angustata var. Boott, 111. Carex 173. pi. 587. 1867.
Carex angustata var. y Boott, 111. Carex 173. pi. 588. 1867. (Based on C. strictior Dewey.)
Carex angustata var. strictior Dudley, Bull. Cornell Univ. 2: 113. 1886. (Based on C. strictior
Dewey.) Carex stricta var. curtissima Peck; Howe, Ann. Rep. N. Y. State Mus. 48: 151. 1897. (Type from
New York.) Carex semicrinata C. B. Clarke, Kew Bull. Add. Ser. 8 : 70. 1908. (Type labeled Florida; probably
from the northeastern United States.) Carex stricta f. curtissima "Peck" Kiikenth. in Engler, Pflanzenreich 4 20 : 330. 1909. (Based on
C. stricta var. curtissima Peck.) Carex strictior f. curtissima House, Bull. N. Y. State Mus. 243-244: 60. 1923. (Based on C. stricta
var. curtissima Peck.)
Cespitose, growing in beds (not in dense tussocks), freely long-stoloniferous, the stolons stout, horizontal, scaly, brownish, the culms 3.5-9 dm. high, erect, slender, sharply triangular, 3.5 mm. wide at base, 1.5 mm. above, very rough above, purplish-red-tinged at base, exceeding the leaves, aphyllopodic and not arising from the center of the dried-up leaves of the previous year; sterile shoots aphyllopodic; leaves with well-developed blades 3 or 4 to a fertile culm, the blades at first glaucous-green or in age light-green or bluish-green, revolute-margined, flat or nearly so at base, mostly 2-4 dm. long, 2.5-3.5 mm. wide, very long-attenuate, thin, papillate, the margins very rough, the sheaths concave at mouth, strongly yellowish-browntinged and markedly hispidulous ventrally, and with a narrow, hyaline, jagged-ciliolate margin at mouth, rounded and hispidulous dorsally, the lower subcarinate dorsally and breaking and becoming filamentose ventrally, the ligule much longer than wide; terminal spike staminate, strongly peduncled, linear, 2-3 cm. long, 3 mm. wide, the scales oblong-obovate, obtuse, purplish-black with lighter center and narrowly hyaline margins; lateral spikes mostly 3, pistillate, the upper usually staminate above, approximate and sessile or nearly so, or the lowest often remote and slenderly long-peduncled, linear, 1.5-6 cm. long, 4-5 mm. wide, densely flowered or more loosely at base, the perigynia 50-150, appressed-ascending in several rows; lowest bract leaflet-like, from somewhat shorter than to somewhat exceeding inflorescence, sheathless, the upper much reduced, biauriculate; scales lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, narrower than and from slightly shorter to slightly longer than the perigynia, purplish-black or in age deep-reddish-brown with lighter center; perigynia unequally biconvex, 2.25-2.75 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, ovate, closely enveloping achene, light-green, granularroughened, puncticulate, reddish-dotted, 2-ribbed (the marginal), more or less obscurely few-nerved dorsally, nerveless or few-nerved ventrally, 2-edged, not serrulate, rounded and nearly sessile at base, abruptly very minutely beaked, the orifice entire or nearly so; achenes lenticular, light-brown, oblong-obovate, 1.75 mm. long, 1.25 mm. wide, filling lower two thirds of perigynium-body, substipitate, abruptly minutely apiculate, jointed with the rather short, slender style; stigmas 2, slender, rather short. Type locality: "Wet places, common" (probably western Massachusetts).
Distribution: Swampy meadows, Quebec and Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to the District of Columbia and Iowa, and in the mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. (Specimens examined from Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa.)
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bibliographic citation
Kenneth Kent Mackenzie. 1935. (POALES); CYPERACEAE; CARICEAE. North American flora. vol 18(7). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Comprehensive Description

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Carex stricta Lam. Encyc. 3: 387. 1791
"Carex acuta L." Muhl. Descr. Gram. 263. 1817. (Plant from Pennsylvania.)
Carex virginiana Smith, in Rees. Cycl. 39: Carex no. 100. 1819. (Based on C. stricta Lam.)
Carex Darlingtonii Freedley; Gay, Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 11: 197, as synonym. 1839. (From Chester
County, Pennsylvania.) Carex commutata Gay, Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 11 : 198. 1839. (Based primarily on " C. acuta L." Muhl.) Carex angustala Boott, in Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 218, in greater part and as to type. 1839. (Regarded as based primarily on "C. acuta L." of early American authors.) Diemisa stricta Raf. Good Book 27. 1840. (Based on Carex stricta Lam.) Carex Kelvingtoniana Steud. Syn. Cyp. 215. 1855. (Type from North America.) "Carex virginica Smith" Steud. Syn. Cyp. 217. 1855. (Intended for C. virginiana Smith.) Carex tenuispica Bock. Flora 39: 225. 1856. (Type from "America bor.") Not C. tenuispica
Steud. 1855. Carex tristicha Bock. Flora 41: 651. 1858. (Based on C. tenuispica Bock.) Carex xerocarpa S. H. Wright; Dewey, Am. Jour. Sci. II. 42: 334. 1866. (Type from Prattsburg,
Seneca County, New York.) Carex anguslata var. typica Boott, 111. Carex 173, in great part. pi. 586, in part. 1867. Carex anguslata var. xerocarpa L. H. Bailey, Cat. N. Am. Car. 2. 1884. (Based by inference on
C. xerocarpa S. H. Wright.) Carex stricta var. angustala L. H. Bailey, in A. Gray, Man. ed. 6. 600. 1890. (Based technically
on C. angustala Boott.) Carex stricta var. xerocarpa Britton, Bull. Torrey Club 22: 222. 1895. (Based on C. xerocarpa S.
H.Wright.) Carex stricta i. angustala "L. H. Bailey" Kiikenth. in Engler, Pflanzenreich 4 2 °: 330. 1909. (Based
on C. angustata Boott.) Carex stricta f. xerocarpa "Britton" Kiikenth. in Engler, Pflanzenreich 4 20 : 330. 1909. (Based on
C. xerocarpa S. H. Wright.) Carex strictior f. angustata House, Bull. N. Y. State Mus. 243-244: 60. 1923. (Based on C. angustata Boott.) Carex stricta f. brevior House, Bull. N. Y. State Mus. 243-244: 61. 1923. (Type from Islip, Long
Island, New York.) Carex stricta f. pedicellaris House, Bull. N. Y. State Mus. 243-244: 61. 1923. (Type from Islip, New York.)
Cespitose in large, very dense tussocks, the rootstocks descending obliquely, the stolons usually not conspicuous, stout, horizontal, scaly, brownish, the culms 3-8 dm. high, slender to base, strict, exceeding leaves, sharply triangular, papillate, very rough above, the sides concave, aphyllopodic and not coming up from the center of the dried-up leaves of the previous year, brownish or light-purplish-brown at base, the basal sheaths subcarinate dorsally; sterile shoots aphyllopodic; leaves with well-developed blades 3-5 to a fertile culm, on lower fourth, often somewhat clustered, the blades usually 1-3 dm. long, 1.5-3 mm. wide, long-attenuate, strongly roughened, thin but stiffish, deep-green, papillate, channeled and keeled towards base, the margins revolute; the sheaths concave, thickish and without a hyaline jagged-ciliolate margin at mouth, smooth or dorsally very slightly hispidulous, reddish-brown ventrally, glabrous or very nearly so, dull-white and reddish-brown-tinged ventrally and breaking and strongly filamentose, the ligule much longer than wide; principal staminate spike usually 1 (with 1 or 2 smaller sessile ones near its base), erect, peduncled, 2-4 cm. long, 2.5 mm. wide, the scales oblong-obovate, obtuse, light-reddish-brown with lighter center and hyaline margins; pistillate spikes usually 2 or 3, the upper often staminate above, erect, sessile, or the lower slightly peduncled, more or less strongly separate, the better developed 2-6 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, densely flowered or somewhat attenuate towards base, the perigynia 50-150, appressedascending in several rows; bracts sheathless, the lower bract 1.5-3 mm. wide, its auricles inconspicuous or wanting, slightly dark-colored, shorter than the culm, the upper reduced, biauriculate; scales variable, oblong-obovate to lanceolate, obtuse to acuminate, reddishbrown with lighter center and narrow hyaline margins, narrower and usually rather shorter than perigynia, appressed; perigynia broadly to narrowly ovate or oval-ovate, 2.25-2.75 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, unequally biconvex, closely enveloping achene, not inflated, 2-edged, granular-roughened, puncticulate, dark-green, 2-ribbed (the marginal) and obscurely fewnerved dorsally, nerveless or nearly so ventrally, rounded and substipitate at base, shorttapering to the beakless or nearly so, subentire, whitish-tipped apex, the style short-exserted ; achenes lenticular, obovate, substipitate, 1.75 mm. long, 1.25 mm. wide, filling lower two thirds of perigynium-body, apiculate, jointed with the straight, rather short, slender style; stigmas 2, slender, rather short.
Type locality: "Cette espece croit dans la Virginie, la Pensylvanie, &c."
Distribution: Swampy woods and meadows, Maine to North Carolina, and probably along the coastal plain to Texas; also locally in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. (Specimens examined from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas.)
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bibliographic citation
Kenneth Kent Mackenzie. 1935. (POALES); CYPERACEAE; CARICEAE. North American flora. vol 18(7). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Carex stricta

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Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge[1] and tussock sedge.[2] The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water.[3] It grows up to 2 feet (0.61 m) tall and 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. When the leaves die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock".[3] Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains,[4] it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.[5]

Their seeds are carried by the wind. When seeds land, they are eaten by birds such as dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, wild turkey, and ducks such as mallard and wood duck. The seeds are also eaten by squirrels and other mammals.[3] The plant can also reproduce vegetatively via rhizomes, and often form colonies.[3]

It is a larval host to the black dash, the dun skipper, and the eyed brown.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Carex stricta Lam., upright sedge". PLANTS Profile. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  2. ^ Coladonato, M. 1994. Carex stricta. In: Fire Effects Information System, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  3. ^ a b c d Carex stricta. Archived 2012-10-01 at the Wayback Machine Study of Northern Virginia Ecology. Fairfax County Public Schools.
  4. ^ "Carex stricta". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  5. ^ Carex stricta. Flora of North America.
  6. ^ The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
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Carex stricta: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge and tussock sedge. The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water. It grows up to 2 feet (0.61 m) tall and 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. When the leaves die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock". Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains, it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.

Their seeds are carried by the wind. When seeds land, they are eaten by birds such as dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, wild turkey, and ducks such as mallard and wood duck. The seeds are also eaten by squirrels and other mammals. The plant can also reproduce vegetatively via rhizomes, and often form colonies.

It is a larval host to the black dash, the dun skipper, and the eyed brown.

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