Carex trichocarpa Willd.

Locations ofCarex trichocarpa Willd. in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Cyperaceae
Botanical Name
Carex trichocarpa Willd.
Common Name
Hairy-fruited Sedge
Synonym(s)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Carex trichocarpa Willd.
Comments
The overall range of this sedge is centered west of the Appalachians, in the upper Midwest. Reported from just a single Virginia county in 1977, the subsequent documentation of its dominance in wet meadows throughout the Ridge and Valley province and occasionally eastward has led some to wonder if it is a recent, invasive introduction. Regardless of whether Carex trichocarpa was simply under-documented previously, it is clear from observations at sites visited repeatedly by botanists over the years that the species has increased greatly at many localities in recent decades.
Habitat
Calcareous fens, seepage swamps, and wet meadows; a somewhat anomalous population was documented in a northern Coastal Plain tidal swamp forest at Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County. Infrequent in the mountains, but locally common throughout the Ridge and Valley province; rare in the Piedmont and n. Coastal Plain.
Native Status
Native

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