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Sartwell's Sedge

Carex sartwellii

Sartwell's sedge is one of the running sedges, spreading by long slender rhizomes into even, single-species stands rather than discrete clumps, so a colony reads as a uniform sward of upright narrow leaves with no individual plants visible in it. That habit is its value in restoration: it closes bare wet ground quickly and then holds it, and it is a standard species for rebuilding a sedge meadow or stabilizing a wet prairie swale. Its flowering stems are unusual in the genus for carrying male and female flowers mixed within the same narrow spike rather than in separate ones, which is how it is keyed out. It grows in calcareous wet prairies, fens and marsh edges through the upper Midwest and Great Lakes, wanting sun and ground that stays wet into summer. The foliage stays partly green through winter and the stands hold snow well. Its root and seed are both on record as food, without further detail.

Family

Cyperaceae

Type

grass

Lifespan

perennial

Height

1–3 ft

Spacing

1–2 ft apart

Light

sun, part shade

Soil moisture

moist, wet

Soil pH

neutral, alkaline

Bloom

June, July

Bloom colors

green, brown

Wildlife value

songbirds, larval host, mammals

Landscape uses

specimen, border, rain garden, erosion control, naturalizing

Native states

AK, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NY, OH, PA, SD, WI, WY