Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Carex concinna
Introductory
SPECIES: Carex concinna
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Walsh, Roberta A. 1994. Carex concinna. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/carcap/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
CARCOC
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
CACO10
COMMON NAMES :
low northern sedge
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of low northern sedge is Carex
concinna R. Br. [5,8,9]. It is in the family Cyperaceae. There are no
accepted infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Carex concinna
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Low northern sedge occurs from Newfoundland and Quebec west to Alaska
[5,9]. From Quebec it extends south to northern Michigan and
northeastern Wisconsin [5,7]. From Alaska it extends south to Oregon
and then east to South Dakota and Colorado [1,7,8,9].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AK CO ID MI MT ND OR SD WA WI
WY AB BC MB NB NF NT ON PQ SK
YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
237 Interior ponderosa pine
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Low northern sedge was not listed as an indicator or dominant in
available literature.
Low northern sedge in Michigan is found at the edges of northern
white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
thickets at the northern ends of Michigan and Huron lakes. Associated
species include bristle-leaved sedge (Carex eburnea), hairlike sedge (C.
capillaris), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), and bearberry
(Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) [15].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Carex concinna
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Carex concinna
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Low northern sedge is a native, perennial, monoecious graminoid [8]. It
is loosely caespitose [5]. Culms are 2 to 8 inches (5 to 20 cm) tall
[1] and triangular [8]. Leaves are mostly basal, five to nine per culm
[9], 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long, and 0.04 to 0.12 inches (1-3 mm)
wide [7]. Inflorescences are both terminal and lateral and 0.12 to 0.28
inches (3 to 7 mm) long [5]. The achene is 0.06 inches (1.5 mm) long
[8]. The perigynia surrounding the achene is obtusely triangular and
0.12 inches (3 mm) long [1]. Low northern sedge has slender, scaly,
often long rhizomes or stolons [1,9,10].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Low northern sedge sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the
culms [8] and from rhizomes [10]. It also reproduces by seed [9].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Low northern sedge is found in forests [10], open woods [3], and
clearings [9]. It occurs on stony, dry [8,10], often calcareous soils
[5,9,10,15].
In the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Basin, low northern sedge is found in
rich, peaty soils chiefly in calcareous areas at elevations of 5,000 to
11,000 feet (1,524-3,353 m) [9].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Low northern sedge blooms in June and July in the north-central and
northeastern United States and adjacent Canada [5].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Carex concinna
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Since low northern sedge can reproduce vegetatively [8], it probably
sprouts from rhizomes after aerial protions are burned. Where thick
tufts form, they may protect basal buds from fire-caused damage.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Tussock graminoid
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carex concinna
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Low northern sedge culms are probably killed by fire during the growing
season.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
NO-ENTRY
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Carex concinna
REFERENCES :
1. Anderson, J. P. 1959. Flora of Alaska and adjacent parts of Canada.
Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. 543 p. [9928]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Dorn, Robert D. 1984. Vascular plants of Montana. Cheyenne, WY: Mountain
West Publishing. 276 p. [819]
4. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
5. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of
northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New
York Botanical Garden. 910 p. [20329]
8. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
9. Raphael, Martin G. 1988. Habitat associations of small mammals in a
subalpine forest, southeastern Wyoming. In: Szaro, Robert C.; Severson,
Kieth E.; Patton, David R., technical coordinators. Management of
amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals in North America: Proceedings of
the symposium; 1988 July 19-21; Flagstaff, AZ. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-166.
Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 359-367. [7124]
10. Hulten, Eric. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1008 p. [13403]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
13. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
14. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
15. Voss, Edward G. 1972. Michigan flora. Part I. Gymnosperms and monocots.
Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Herbarium. 488 p. [11471]
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