Index / Search / Carex aperta

§1 Plant

Carex aperta Boott

vernacular Columbian sedge — species · Cyperaceae


USDA
CAAP3
GBIF
2725736
Rank
species
Columbian sedge (Carex aperta)
Platephotograph · Alexis Evans source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Cyperaceae Juss.
Genus
Carex
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 2 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 2 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-18 °F minimum
Frost-free days
60 min.
Precipitation
24–60 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Brown
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 2 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAAP3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2725736 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z