Elk Sedge

Culms 5–40 cm. Leaves: blades 5–15(–25) cm × 1–2.5(–3.5) mm. Inflorescences: proximal bracts leaflike, exceeding inflorescences, sheaths to 10 mm; lateral spikes with 9–30 perigynia, approximate or proximal distant, dense, 7–15 × 3–5 mm; middle internodes 0.3–0.7 mm; terminal spike usually gynecandrous, with at least 1/3 of flowers staminate, rarely entirely staminate, sessile or short-pedunculate, 6–15(–20) mm, (1.2–)1.5–2.5 mm wide in staminate portion. Pistillate scales ascending, medium to dark brown with paler midvein and hyaline margins, ovate-circular, 1.7–2.7 × 1–1.9 mm, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes shortly mucronate. Staminate scales brown with paler midvein and hyaline margins, oblong-ovate, (2–)2.5–3.7 mm, apex obtuse to acute. Perigynia ascending, white, elliptic-obovate, 2–3 × 1.2–1.8 mm, densely papillose. Achenes elliptic-circular, 1.4–2 × 1–1.5 mm.

Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Calif., Ind., Maine, Mich., Minn., N.H., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., Utah, Vt., Wash., Wis., Wyo.

Fruiting summer.

Moist shores, meadows, fens, on base-rich soils; 0–1500m.

Carex aurea Nuttall var. androgyna Olney in S. Watson, Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 371. 1871, not C. androgyna Balbis 1801

Garber sedge

More info for the terms: achene, caespitose, graminoid, monoecious, rhizome

Garber sedge is a native, perennial, monoecious graminoid. It is
loosely caespitose. Culms are 19.7 to 27.6 inches (0.5-0.7 m) tall [1],
firm, and triangular [6]. Leaves are shorter to much taller than the
culms [4], and 0.8 to 0.16 inches (2-4 mm) wide. The terminal
inflorescence is 0.24 to 0.79 inches (6 to 20 mm) long [1]. The achene
is 0.06 inches (1.5 mm) long. The perigynia surrounding the achene is
lenticular and 0.8 to 0.12 inches (2-3 mm) long [1]. Garber sedge is
stoloniferous or rhizomatous, the rhizome being elongated [1,6].

Garber sedge occurs from Quebec south to New York and west to Indiana.
From Quebec it extends west to British Columbia and north to Alaska. In
the western cordillera Garber sedge extends from British Columbia east
to Alberta and south to California, Nevada, and Idaho [1,4,6].

More info for the term: fire regime

Although culms are probably killed by fire during the growing season,
Garber sedge probably sprouts from rhizomes [6] after the aerial
portions are burned.

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".

More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: geophyte, hemicryptophyte

Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte

Garber sedge is found in swamps, on the margins of ponds [6], and in wet
places [7]. It is found on calcareous sands, gravels, and ledges,
especially near the Great Lakes [4,10,15]. In Michigan it occurs on wet
sandy, gravelly, or marly shores, interdunal flats, rock crevices, and
at the edges of northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) thickets [15].
In Maine it occurs on riverbanks [12].

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

13 Black spruce - tamarack
16 Aspen
18 Paper birch
19 Gray birch - red maple
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
46 Eastern redcedar
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
62 Silver maple - American elm
95 Black willow
217 Aspen
221 Red alder
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
252 Paper birch

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES44 Alpine

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K106 Northern hardwoods

Garber sedge culms are probably killed by fire during the growing
season.

More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid

AK CA ID IN ME MI NV NY ND OH
OR PA UT WA AB BC MB NB ON PQ
SK YT

More info on this topic.

Garber sedge blooms from June to August, depending on location and
subspecies [4,10,12].

More info for the terms: herb, rhizome, tussock

Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Tussock graminoid

More info for the term: seed

Garber sedge sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the culms [6]
and it reproduces vegetatively by rhizomes [1]. It also reproduces by
seed [6].

More info on this topic.

This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
6 Upper Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands

More info for the term: fern

The currently accepted scientific name of Garber sedge is Carex garberi
Fern. [7,8,15]. It is in the family Cyperaceae.

Recognized subspecies are as follows:

C. g. subsp. garberi
C. g. subsp. bifaria (Fern.) Hulten [1,7]

Carex garberi is a species of sedge known by the common names elk sedge and Garber's sedge native to North America.