Participant Info

Species

Carex aquatilis [Neskiza aquatilis] [Vignea aquatilis]

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

water sedge, leafy tussock sedge

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1903

LatestDate

2023

Ecosystem

basin, shrubland

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Saguache, Archuleta, San Juan

Passes

Cumbres, Elwood, Grayback, La Manga, Los Pinos, North, Spring Creek, Stony, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Baca

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. In the Watershed, water sedge ranges from basin to tundra and is present in all mountain ranges, east and west. Most collections, however, come from the west side. The habitat is usually riparian—stream, pond, and lake sides. Carex aquatilis also grows in marshes, bogs, fens, and wet meadows. Its thick, wide rhizome systems combines with boggy substrate to form something like peat (elsewhere, the species is used to revegetate areas where peat has been removed). In the USA, C. aquatilis is common in all Western states and on east across the northern third of the nation. It follows the Rio Grande drainage half down New Mexico but no farther.

Annotation