Single Record

Comments: NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Bladder sedge is the bad boy of Colorado sedges. Does a sedge by the name of Carex vesicaria exist in the Watershed? Currently, POWO and FNA say not, restricting Carex vesicaria in North America to the Great Lakes region and upper New England. Other authorities, such as BONAP and Allred et al. (2020) show a lower USA range of Carex vesicaria that includes all of the Western states as well as the Great Lakes and New England. The taxon, which forms various hybrids, has always been contested—POWO lists 60 synonyms. Here we accept the traditional concept until further study may clarify matters. In the Watershed, there are only four vouchers labeled "Carex vesicaria": four miles east of Cochetopa pass (Saguache Co, 1983); two miles SSE of Ruybald Lake (Conejos Co, 1988); one mile south of Bonanza (Saguache Co, 1999); the west side of the Great Sand Dunes in the Elk Springs area (Saguache Co, 1999); and one mile north of San Luis Lake (Alamosa, 2015). Allred et al. (2020) record "Carex vesicaria" in the Rio Grande drainage of New Mexico only from a few locations in Rio Arriba Co. The species does not follow the drainage farther down stream.