Index / Search / Carex athrostachya

§1 Plant — species · Cyperaceae

Carex athrostachya Olney

vernacular slenderbeak sedge


USDA
CAAT3
GBIF
2725564
Rank
species
slenderbeak sedge (Carex athrostachya)
Platephotograph · Steve MatsonCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

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

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
85 min.
Precipitation
14–40 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7.2
Root depth
8 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

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

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Propagation
seed, bare root, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

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

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 10 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/CAAT3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2725564 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z