About Carex saxatilis L.
This description is for Carex saxatilis L., a variable sedge species. In general, this sedge grows in a tuft of grass-like stems and leaves, reaching heights of up to 80 or 90 centimeters. Its inflorescence produces staminate spikes that sit above spikes of pistillate flowers.
Carex saxatilis L. has a circumboreal distribution across the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It can be found in Alaska, nearly all of Canada, Greenland, and across Eurasia. In North America, it grows at high elevations as far south as Utah and Colorado.
Ecologically, this sedge acts as a dominant or codominant species in several types of wetland habitats, alongside other sedges. In more southern regions, it is found near streams and lakes. It does not compete successfully against other vegetation in southern regions, so it only grows in the wettest habitats where other plants cannot establish. It grows in water or saturated substrates, but sometimes can be found in drier sites such as meadows. It may be associated with Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint reedgrass), Deschampsia caespitosa (tufted hairgrass), Potamogeton gramineus (variableleaf pondweed), Abies lasiocarpa (subalpine fir), Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine), Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce), and Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen).
