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Beaked Sedge

Carex rostrata

Beaked sedge is a blue-green, rhizomatous sedge of fens, bogs, and shallow water, forming extensive northern wetland stands prized by waterfowl. The root has been cooked, and the seed is reportedly edible, though small and fiddly to use.

Family

Cyperaceae

Type

grass

Lifespan

perennial

Height

3.5–3.5 ft

Spacing

1–2 ft apart

Light

part shade

Soil moisture

moist, wet

Soil pH

acidic, neutral

Bloom

June, July, August

Bloom colors

brown

Wildlife value

songbirds, larval host, mammals

Landscape uses

specimen, border, rain garden, erosion control, naturalizing

Native states

AK, DC, IA, ID, IL, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, VT, WA, WI