Bottle Sedge
Carex rostrata
Bottle Sedge, a species of marshes and bogs
Description/identification
Bottle Sedge is a rhizomatous perennial species with light green spikes of fruit. These fruits are flask-shaped, giving this beautiful species its name. Bottle Sedge can be found in flower during May, June and July. It can be confused with Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria) with which it occasionally hybridizes.
Habitat
Bottle Sedge can be found at the edges of lakes and ponds, rivers and streams; also in ditches, fens and bog pools, wet meadows and sea-cliff flushes. In Oxfordshire it usually grows in acidic and peaty areas, in shallow water and pond margins.
Distribution and threats
Bottle Sedge is listed as scarce in Oxfordshire’s rare plant register, its decline being attributable to drainage and habitat reclamation.