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Brownish sedge

Carex brunnescens

Also called Brown Sedge

Brownish sedge
Photo: Hurd, E.G., N.L. Shaw, J. Mastrogiuseppe, L.C. Smithman, & S. Goodrich. 1998. Field guide to Intermountain sedges. Gen., Public domain

Brownish sedge (Carex brunnescens) is a small perennial grass-like sedge native across the cool northern regions of North America and Eurasia, found in woods, bogs and fens. It is a wild species rather than a common garden plant, and it grows best in cool, moist, shaded or partly shaded conditions.

Family
Cyperaceae (Cyper family)
Grows as
Grass
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist, as it naturally grows in wet bogs and fens.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, acidic to neutral soil or bog-type mix.
Temperature
Hardy in cool temperate climates; tolerates winter cold well.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Temp. Northern Hemisphere
Climate
temperate

About

Carex brunnescens, the brownish sedge or green bog sedge, is a species of plant in the sedge family (Cyperaceae). It has a circumboreal distribution, and is native to North America and Eurasia. In the United States it is primarily found in the Northeast and Midwest extending south into the Appalachian Mountains, with disjunct populations westward in the Rocky Mountains. It has a wide-ranging natural habitat, is in found in forests, bogs, fens, and rock outcrops.

Carex brunnescens is morphologically variable across its wide range. It has a different morphology when growing in shade vs. sunlight. Shade growing specimens tends to be slender and weak-stemmed with green scales, and sun growing specimens tend to be stiffly erect with brown scales. The degree of variation in this species warrants further taxonomic study.

Other Carex plants

Carex abitibiana · Indian Valley sedge · Abruptbeak sedge · Thicket sedge · Small Dusky Sedge · Seoul Sedge · Acid Loving Sedge · Carex acocksii · Slender Tufted-sedge · Carex acutata · Lesser pond sedge · Circumpolar sedge

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Carex brunnescens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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