Distant Sedge

Carex distans

- Distant Sedge (Carex distans)

Description/identification

Distant Sedge is a medium-sized sedge species with leaves dark or greyish-green, and densely tufted. This species is similar to Green-ribbed Sedge (Carex binervis), but Distant Sedge bears an inflorescence that takes up more than half the stems, and also has shorter glumes, which are leaf-like structures below the flower.

Habitat

Distant Sedge is a lowland species found in brackish and freshwater marshes, and wet rocky places mostly near the sea such as sea-cliffs and rocky shores. This sedge also occurs inland, in wet meadows, marshes and fens on mineral-rich soils. In Oxfordshire it grows scattered, although some of its records are thought to be of Brown Sedge Carex disticha instead.

Life Cycle

Distant Sedge fruits from late June to July.

Distribution and threats

Distant Sedge is native to Europe and North Africa, and naturalised in North America. This species is found along the coasts of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and inland in southern England. It has declined  inland due to the drainage and improvement of its wetland habitats, and it is catalogued as scarce in the administrative county of Oxfordshire.