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Western Single-spike Sedge - Carex scirpoidea ssp. pseudoscirpoidea
Other Names:
Carex pseudoscirpoidea
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5T5
State Rank:
S4
(see State Rank Reason below)
C-value:
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
DRAFT: Requesting feedback on the 2026 revised rank, factors, and State Rank Reason outlined below and in the Conservation Status Rank Report.
Carex scirpoidea ssp. pseudoscirpoidea is widespread across higher elevation mountain ranges in many parts of western and central Montana. Occurrences are mostly in relatively remote areas, which limits the potential for negative impacts. No significant and widespread threats to the species are known besides potential impacts associated with climate change. Population levels are poorly documented, though are believed to be fairly robust, and trends are unknown though populations have likely been relatively stable in the recent past or experienced only minor declines.
General Description
Plants rhizomatous, dioecious. Stems 10-40 cm, shorter than leaves. Leaf blades 1.5-4 mm wide. Pistillate inflorescence: spikelets generally 1, sometimes 2, upper generally larger; spikelet bract wanting or if present then shorter than spike, sometimes leaf-like and sheathing; floral bract obtuse or with a small point, equal to or longer than the perygynium in width, ciliate or not, often minutely hairy, brown to black with wide white margin. Perygyinia 20-40 per spikelet, ascending, 2-3.5 mm long, 1-1.7 mm wide, 3-sided, faintly veined, purplish, faces minutely hairy (at least near beak), beak 0.4-0.7 mm long; fruit 1.5-2.1 mm long, 0.7-1.1 mm wide, more or less equal to length of peryginium body (Mastrogiuseppe, 1993, The Jepson Manual).
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
BC to MT and ID, south to CA, WY, UT, CO (Kartesz 2009).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 89
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Rocky, seasonally wet areas.
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Additional ReferencesLegend:
View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
Aho, Ken Andrew. 2006. Alpine and Cliff Ecosystems in the North-Central Rocky Mountains. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, Montana: Montana State University. 343 p.- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
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