PROTECTING WISCONSIN'S BIODIVERSITY

 
 
   
 
Scientific Name Common Name Global Rank State Rank Federal Status WI Status

Beautiful Sedge (Carex concinna)

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Photo by Emmet Judziewicz

 

Counties with Mapped NHI Occurrences

Beautiful Sedge (Carex concinna), a Wisconsin Threatened plant, is found in brushy white cedar thickets and swampy swales along Great Lakes. Blooming occurs late-May through late-June, fruiting early-June through early-July. The optimal identification period for this species is throughout June.

 
 
 

Beautiful sedge is a graminoid, 5-15cm tall, with 2-3 female spikes 4-8mm long, that are sessile or short-peduncled, emerge from cauline nodes, aggregated, ascending, and ovoid to ellipsoid. Male spikes are terminal and 4-6mm long. Perigynia are ellipsoid, pubescent with coarse, wrinkled white hairs, achenes are ellipsoid. Its reddish brown basal sheaths are not fibrous, most blades are basal, pale green, thin, and shorter than the culms. Pistillate scales are reddish-brown, and ovate, the apex is obtuse, minutely ciliate, and distinctly shorter than perigynia.

It can be differentiated from Carex deflexa and C rossii by its strong sheathing, short-bladed bracts, pubescent perigynia with coarse, wrinkled hairs, and the apex of its pistillate scales being minutely ciliate.

Rhizomatous. Blooming occurs late-May through late-June, fruiting early-June through early-July.

Perennial. The optimal identification period for this species is throughout June.

Associated species include Thuja occidentalis, Carex capillaris, C castanea, Primula mistassinica, Juniperus communis, Alnus crispa, Ledum groenlandicum, Abies balsamea, and Picea glauca.

Beautiful sedge prefers moist to dry, gravelly or sandy, calcareous soils and is found in brushy white cedar thickets and swampy swales along Great Lakes.

Avoid known individual plant locations and conduct operations elsewhere when they are least likely to cause damage. Ideally, this would involve frozen, snow-covered ground. However, in areas of the state where frozen conditions are unreliable, very dry soils late in the growing season might be the best available alternative. Consult with a biologist, if needed.

Avoid broadcast spraying of herbicides and use care with spot spraying.

Avoid site preparation that heavily disturbs herbaceous ground layer and soil, including bulldozing and furrowing, as well as grubbing and stump removal.

Avoid direct disturbance to sensitive microsites such as seeps, cliffs, and moss-covered boulders.

Avoid disturbance to shorelines and the forest-beach interface.

Follow BMPs, especially around streams and use care near ravines, steep slopes, cliffs, rock outcrops, etc.

Buffer management around unique microhabitats such as ephemeral ponds, seeps, etc.

Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) are associated with habitats (or natural communities) and places on the landscape. Understanding relationships among SGCN, natural communities and ecological landscapes help us make decisions about issues affecting SGCN and their habitat and how to respond. Download the Wildlife Action Plan association score spreadsheet to explore rare species, natural communities and ecological landscape associations

Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.