Home Cyperaceae Carex

Carex utriculata Boott

Common Name: SEDGE
Coefficient of Conservatism: 5
Coefficient of Wetness: -5
Wetness Index: OBL
Physiognomy: Nt P-Sedge

Included in C. rostrata in Michigan Flora.

Common in very wet muddy or sandy places: marshy stream margins, lake shores, river banks; swamps, marshes, ponds, ditches, and bogs; wet trails and clearings in cedar swamps.

Typically a more robust plant than the quite similar Carex vesicaria, strongly rhizomatous, with culms central and thickly clothed with spongy leaf bases, the broader leaves rather strongly septate-nodulose when dry. Carex vesicaria is a clumping species, with culms lateral, lwith bladeless basal sheaths at bottom, and little or not septate-nodulose when dry.  Almost all records of C. rostrata in Michigan Flora belong here, see brief notes under that species.

This is a major dominant of peatland wetlands throught Michigan, especially in lower pH settings.

R. Schipper

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Counties
Alcona
Alger
Allegan
Alpena
Antrim
Arenac
Baraga
Barry
Bay
Benzie
Berrien
Calhoun
Charlevoix
Cheboygan
Chippewa
Clare
Crawford
Delta
Emmet
Gogebic
Grand Traverse
Gratiot
Hillsdale
Houghton
Huron
Ingham
Ionia
Iosco
Iron
Isabella
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Kalkaska
Kent
Keweenaw
Lake
Leelanau
Lenawee
Livingston
Luce
Mackinac
Macomb
Manistee
Marquette
Mason
Mecosta
Midland
Missaukee
Montcalm
Montmorency
Muskegon
Newaygo
Oakland
Ogemaw
Ontonagon
Oscoda
Ottawa
Presque Isle
Roscommon
Sanilac
Schoolcraft
St. Clair
St. Joseph
Tuscola
Van Buren
Washtenaw
Wayne

Citation:
MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. March, 17, 2025
https://lsa-miflora-p.lsait.lsa.umich.edu/#/record/1075