Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Carex stricta
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| Upright sedge. Image by Robert H. Mohlenbrock, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1995. Northeast wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. Northeast National Technical Center, Chester. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Carex stricta
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Coladonato, Milo 1994. Carex stricta. 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/carstr/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION:
CARSTR
SYNONYMS:
Carex stricta var. strictior Dewey [13,28]
Carex strictior Dewey
NRCS PLANT CODE:
CAST8
COMMON NAMES:
upright sedge
tussock sedge
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of upright sedge is Carex stricta Lam.
(Cyperaceae) [13].
Upright sedge hybridizes with many other Carex species [4].
LIFE FORM:
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Carex stricta
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Upright sedge occurs from Newfoundland south to the Carolinas and
Tennessee and from Manitoba south to eastern Oklahoma and Texas
[12,14,19,20].
 |
| Distribution of upright sedge. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC. [2018, September 27] [27]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
STATES:
AR CT DE IL IN IA KS KY ME MD
MA MI MN MO NE NH NJ NY NC ND
OH OK PA RI SC SD TN TX VT VA
WV WI WY MB NB NF NS ON PE PQ
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
10 Wyoming Basin
14 Great Plains
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K079 Palmetto prairie
K081 Oak savanna
K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
K084 Cross Timbers
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
1 Jack pine
14 Northern pin oak
15 Red pine
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
32 Red spruce
42 Bur oak
44 Chestnut oak
46 Eastern redcedar
51 White pine - chestnut oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
62 Silver maple - American elm
64 Sassafras - persimmon
70 Longleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
110 Black oak
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Upright sedge is a moist-site species [19]. It is often dominant in
meadows in New England and the upper Midwest [7,22]. Upright sedge also
occurs in moist forest communities [23,31].
Common associates of upright sedge include blueberries (Vaccinium spp.),
huckleberries (Gaylussacia spp.), common winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
bog rush (Juncus effusus), bog Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum),
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii
var. gerardii), bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), and other
sedges (Carex spp.) [3,7,15,17].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Carex stricta
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
Upright sedge established well in constructed wetland in Massachusetts.
It became dominant 1 to 2 years after construction [32].
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Shrub invasion is altering sedge meadows in Wisconsin that contain
upright sedge. Invaded areas were consistently wetter than uninvaded
sedge meadows [29].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Carex stricta
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Upright sedge is a rhizomatous sedge reaching a height of about 3 feet
(1 m) [16]. The long narrow leaves are 0.25 inches (0.6 cm) wide and
about 2.5 feet (75 cm) long [19]. The wirelike rhizomes are usually
found in the top 6 inches (15 cm) of the soil and are variable in length
[5]. The fruit is an achene [14].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Upright sedge regenerates primarily through rhizomes. Two types of
rhizomes are distinguished. Long rhizomes branch and produce distant
plants. Short rhizomes produce culms just offset from the parent [5].
Propagation: Propagation tests for upright sedge in Wisconsin showed
variable results. Seeds collected and planted within 2 weeks in 1988
were compared with seeds collected in 1987 and held in cold storage for
1 year. Germination rates for seeds collected and planted in 1988
were 70 to 95 percent; 1-year-old seeds showed less than 15 percent
germination. These results indicated that seeds should be planted while
still fresh, preferably within a week or two following harvest [1].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Upright sedge is found in bogs, wet meadows, floodplains, swales,
marshes, and wet woodlands. It is found in areas where the soil is at or
just above the water level [5,12].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Upright sedge is shade intolerant hydro-successional species in the
sedge meadow community [5,17,26]. The sedge community is preceded by an
emergent marsh community of reeds (Phragmites spp.) and/or cattails (Typha
spp.) where the water is above the soil. The sedge community is
followed by a shrub community of willows (Salix spp.), dogwoods (Cornus
spp.), and/or alders (Alnus spp.) as drier conditions are produced [5].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Depending on site, upright sedge flowers from late May to mid-June. The
fruit ripens in August [8,17].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Carex stricta
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
The rhizomes of upright sedge make it resistant to fires that burn
little of the soil organic layer. Fire is important to the maintenance
of the sedge meadow community where upright sedge grows [5,6]. It is a
natural feature of this environment and prevents the encroachment of
shrubs and trees. The wet habitat usually protects the roots and
rhizomes from fire. During severe droughts or when the meadows have
been partially or completely drained, however, fire has serious effects.
Underlying peat beds may ignite and smolder for long periods of time
Such fires can destroy roots of most plants. By lowering the meadow
surface and reducing plant cover, such fires may also convert a sedge
meadow to an emergent marsh community [5,10].
Upright sedge probably colonizes burned areas by seeds and rhizomes.
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
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carex stricta
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Fires that occur when meadows are moist or wet probably top-kill tussock
sedge. The rhizomes are probably killed by severe fires that remove
most of the soil organic layer [5].
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Upright sedge is typically an increaser following fire. In a study on
the effects of burning on sedge meadows in Wisconsin, upright sedge was
found to occur at higher numbers on burned areas than on unburned areas
[29]. A spring fire was set in 1973 in Ontario to study the short-term
response of the shrub and herb layers. Upright sedge had already
emerged at the time of the fire. Percent cover of upright sedge was
similar in control and burned plots that summer. Later-emerging
associated species, however, showed more vigorous postfire growth; the
initially lower cover of upright sedge may have been due to fire damage
to early spring growth. At postfire month 15, upright sedge cover was
significantly (p=0.05) greater on burned plots than on unburned plots
[23].
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
FIRE CASE STUDY
SPECIES: Carex stricta
FIRE CASE STUDY CITATION:
Coladonato, Milo, compiler. 1994. Effect of prescribed burning on upright sedge in
quaking aspen woodlands in southern Ontario. In: Carex stricta. 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/ [].
REFERENCES:
James, T. D. W.; Smith, D. W. 1977. Short-term effects of surface fire
on the biomass and nutrient standing crop of Populus tremuloides in
southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 7: 666-679. [33].
Smith, D. W.; James, T. D. W. 1978. Changes in the shrub and herb layers
of vegetation after prescribed burning in Populus tremuloides woodland
in southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56: 1792-1797. [23].
Smith, D. W.; James, T. D. 1978. Characteristics of prescribed burns and
resultant short-term environmental changes in Populus tremuloides
woodland in southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56: 1782-1791.
[31].
SEASON/SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION:
Spring/Low
STUDY LOCATION:
The study was conducted at the Mullin Tract in West Luther Township,
Wellington County, Ontario.
PREFIRE VEGETATIVE COMMUNITY:
The prefire vegetation was dominated by an open stand of trembling aspen
(Populus tremuloides) (164 stems/ha, average d.b.h. 14 cm) with
red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) in the shrub layer. The herb layer
was codominated by upright sedge (Carex stricta) and bluejoint reedgrass
(Calamagrostis canadensis).
TARGET SPECIES PHENOLOGICAL STATE:
No specific information was given on the phenological state of tussock
sedge but it was probably in a preflowering condition during these
spring fires.
SITE DESCRIPTION:
The site is at an elevation of 1,221 feet (470 m). Mean total
precipitation is 35.4 inches per year (885 mm/yr), the average length of
the growing season is 116 days, and the July mean daily temperature is 70
degrees Fahrenheit (21 deg C). The study was located on poorly drained,
organic muck soils approximately 1 foot (3 m) in depth. The area had
generally low relief but consisted of a mosaic of hummocks and hollows,
the latter filled with standing water in the early spring.
FIRE DESCRIPTION:
Burn Wind Relative Ambient Dead fuel Reaction
plot Date speed humidity temp combusted intensity
(m/min) (%) (deg C) (g/sq m) (kw/sq m/min)
1 5/8/72 91.7 56 14 674.7 509
2 5/8/72 87.4 58 15 750.4 375
3 4/24/73 43.5 72 13 756.2 569
4 4/24/73 68.7 43 15 651.1 489
Standard deviations are reported for wind speed, fuel combustion, and
reaction intensity data [2].
Fuel moisture content was "generally high" on the treatment plots in
both 1972 and 1973 and evidently tended to reduce fire intensity. The
pattern of burning in both years was heterogeneous. This was related to
the uneven microtopography and patchy distribution of fuel prior to the
fires. Areas dominated by upright sedge had large amounts of surface
litter and standing dead material and consequently were the most
thoroughly burned.
FIRE EFFECTS ON TARGET SPECIES:
Short-term postfire response of upright sedge after light prescribed
surface fire in trembling aspen woodlands were as follows:
Percent abundance Percent frequency
Burned 4/73 43.5 87.5
Burned 5/72 70.0 96.0
Control 54.0 83.5
Abundance of burned and control populations was not significantly
different (p=0.05) at postfire year 1. Growth of the burned population
may have been affected by scorch or by increased competition from
bluejoint reedgrass. Upright sedge was substantially more abundant in
the plots measured 15 months following fire.
FIRE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Carex stricta
REFERENCES:
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reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
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U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
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sand plain in the Adirondacks. Syracuse, NY: New York State College of
Forestry. 47 p. [21340]
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351-440. [20465]
5. Curtis, John T. 1959. The vegetation of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: The
University of Wisconsin Press. 657 p. [7116]
6. Davis, Anthony M. 1979. Wetland succession, fire and the pollen record:
a Midwestern example. American Midland Naturalist. 102(1): 86-94.
[7311]
7. Dunlop, D. A. 1987. Community classification of the vascular vegetation
of a New Hampshire peatland. Rhodora. 89(860): 415-440. [20275]
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nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) associated with plants of a
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[14893]
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ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
12. Godfrey, Robert K.; Wooten, Jean W. 1981. Aquatic and wetland plants of
southeastern United States: Dicotyledons. Athens, GA: The University of
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northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New
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16. Knobel, Edward; Faust, Mildred E. 1980. Field guide to the grasses,
sedges and rushes of the United States. 2d rev. ed. New York: Dover
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17. Kudish, Michael. 1992. Adirondack upland flora: an ecological
perspective. Saranac, NY: The Chauncy Press. 320 p. [19377]
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of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
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plants of the Northeast. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
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20. Radford, Albert E.; Ahles, Harry E.; Bell, C. Ritchie. 1968. Manual of
the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of
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21. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
22. Reuter, D. Dayton. 1986. Effects of prescribed burning, cutting and
torching on shrubs in a sedge meadow wetland. In: Koonce, Andrea L., ed.
Prescribed burning in the Midwest: state-of-the-art: Proceedings of a
symposium; 1986 March 3-6; Stevens Point, WI. Stevens Point, WI:
University of Wisconsin, College of Natural Resources, Fire Science
Center: 108-115. [16278]
23. Smith, D. W.; James, T. D. W. 1978. Changes in the shrub and herb layers
of vegetation after prescribed burning in Populus tremuloides woodland
in southern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Botany. 56: 1792-1797. [16400]
24. Standley, Lisa A. 1989. Taxonomic revision of the Carex stricta
(Cyperaceae) complex in eastern North America. Canadian Journal of
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Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
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[15114]
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[6933]
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