Index / Search / Carex tenera

§1 Plant

Carex tenera Dewey

vernacular quill sedge — species · Cyperaceae


USDA
CATE3
GBIF
2728212
Rank
species
quill sedge (Carex tenera)
Platephotograph · Jean-SergeCC BY-NC 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
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
85 min.
Precipitation
30–50 in/yr
pH range
4.9–7
Root depth
8 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
2.5 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
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
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, bare root, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
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/CATE3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2728212 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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