Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
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  • Plains Oval Sedge

    SCIENTIFIC NAME: Carex brevior


    COMMON NAMES: Plains Oval Sedge, Shortbeak Sedge, Fescue Sedge, Brevior Sedge

    BLOOM TIME: June, July

    PLANT PROFILE:

    • Can be up to 12 in. tall.
    • Individual leaf blades up to 10 in. long, hairless and channeled.
    • In fruiting stage spikes are club-like in shape, looking prickly, & turning brown in fall.
    • Drought tolerant but easily adapts to swamps and wetlands.
    • Hardy choice for landscapes.

    INSECT/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS:

    • Sedges in sunny upland areas are food source especially for grasshoppers who also feed on grasses.
    • Other insects feeders include the larvae of billbugs, larvae of leafminer flies, & miscellaneous aphids.
    • Seeds of sedges in sunny upland areas eaten by upland gamebirds, sparrows, and longspurs.
    • Grass feeding mammalian herbivores will feed on less preferred sedges.