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Pennsylvania sedge

Carex pensylvanica

Also called Penn Sedge, Common Oak Sedge

Pennsylvania sedge
Photo: Chhe (talk), Public domain

Pennsylvania sedge is a low, native North American grass-like perennial that forms tufts and blooms very early in spring. It is a tough, shade-tolerant groundcover suited to woodland edges and rain gardens, and it is easy to grow in most soils.

Family
Cyperaceae (Cyper family)
Grows as
Grass
Light
Part shade, Shade, Full sun
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during establishment, then water during dry spells; tolerates short periods of drought once established.
Soil
Average, moist, well-drained woodland soil or loam; tolerates a range of soil types.
Temperature
Hardy to about -35 °C; thrives in cool to mild conditions.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Native range
C. & E. Canada to NC. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Carex pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family commonly called Pennsylvania sedge (sometimes shortened to Penn sedge). Other common names include early sedge, common oak sedge, and yellow sedge.

Where it grows

This plant is native to North America, especially eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Based on a census of the literature, herbaria specimens, and confirmed sightings, C. pensylvanica is found in Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec in Canada; and in the United States it is most widely distributed in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, mainland Rhode Island, Virginia and Wisconsin. it is also known from northern Alabama, the western Carolinas, the mostly eastern Dakotas, northern and southern Delaware, northern Georgia, western Iowa, mostly northern Indiana, northern and eastern Missouri, mostly central and eastern Ohio, and mostly central Tennessee. It is also found in Arkansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland and the District of Columbia, New York, West Virginia, and Vermont. It has been reported from just one county, Lee, in the far northeastern portion of the state of Mississippi.

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 pensylvanica 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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