Participant Info

Species

Carex utriculata [Carex rostrata subsp. utriculata] [Carex ampullaceae var. utriculata] etc.

Family

Cyperaceae

CommonName

Northwest Territory sedge, common beaked sedge, common yellow lake sedge

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1896

LatestDate

2023

Ecosystem

basin, shrubland, foothill, montane, subalpine, tundra, ruderal

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin

Counties

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

Passes

Cumbres, Elwood, Los Pinos, Poncha, Stony, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Brown Lakes, Hot Creek

Other Localities

Del Norte

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Del Norte, old irrigation side, 14 June 2014

Comments

Common beak sedge is, indeed, the most commonly collected sedge from the Watershed. In elevation it ranges from basin to tundra, although it has been most often recorded from the montane. Carex utriculata prefers stream and lake sides, wet meadows, fens, and marshes, and sometimes grows in deep water. It also adapts to ruderal ground such as ditch and irrigation sides. In the lower USA, it is common in all Western states (least of all Nevada), and carries on eastward across the Great Lakes and into New England. It follows the Rio Grand drainage through New Mexico, although more common in the north of the state. It has not yet been recorded from Texas.

Annotation