Participant Info

Species

Carex ebenea [Carex festiva var. ebenea] [Carex haydeniana var. ebenea]

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

ebony sedge

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1900

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

foothill, montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos

Counties

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

Passes

Elwood, Spring Creek, Stony, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Ebony sedge is quite common in the Watershed, with specimens recorded from all mountain ranges, east and west. The concentration of occurrences, however, is in the South San Juans, usually in the subalpine and tundra zones. Typical habitat is openings in conifer woods amd edges pf wetlands. Note that the two vouchers from around the town of Alamosa (Alamosa Co, 1980, 1993) seem unlikely; Carex ebenea is not prone to grow by the side of rivers, and its seeds seem unlikely to have washed down the Rio Grande. The center of the USA distribution of Carex ebenea is central and western Colorado, with isolated patches in all other Western states except for California, Oregon, and Washington. The species follows the Rio Grande drainage as far south as Sierra Blanca Peak in Otero Co of New Mexico, and no farther down stream.

Annotation