Characteristics:
Carex lurida is a large tufted wetland sedge. Narrow bright green leaves are offset in late spring by stiff triangular culms bearing interestingly shaped spikes. Clusters of brown seeds emerge later in the season. This plant is a major food source for many types of beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife
Cultivation:
Carex lurida thrives in sunny moist or wet sites and tolerates seasonal flooding. Planting sites must remain moist or damp. Plants are unpalatable to deer and other browsers.
Ecology:
The number of fauna that use Carex spp. (Sedges) is large. Quite a few grasshopper species feed on sedge leaves and stems. A great many butterflies, skippers, and moths feed on one or more sedges as caterpillars. Several leafhoppers prefer to feed on sedges, especially Cosmotettix spp. The nymphs of spittlebugs Lempyron angulifera and Philaenus parallelus suck juices from sedges while hiding in their spittle-foam. Among vertebrates, the seeds are an important source of food to various songbirds, waterfowl and other birds
Habitat:
Swamps, marshes, seeps, pond and lake margins, wet meadows, and ditches
Carex lurida
Shallow Sedge
Type: Sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Height: 2 to 3 ft
Spread: 1 to 2 ft
Bloom: Yellow-Green, April to May
Sun: Full Sun - Part Shade
Water: Wet
Tolerates: deer, wet soils
