''Carex arctata'', known as drooping woodland sedge, is a species of

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

native to eastern North America. It is sometimes called black sedge, compressed sedge, or drooping wood sedge. It occurs from

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

to the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

in Canada, south to northwestern

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and west to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. ''Carex arctata'' grows in bogs, hardwood forests, and spruce forests.

Taxonomy

''Carex arctata'' part of the section ''Carex'' sect. ''Hymenochlaenae''. It was first formally named by

Francis Boott Francis Boott (26 September 1792 – 25 December 1863) was an American physician and botanist who was resident in Great Britain from 1820. Biography Boott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, the brother of Kirk Boott, o ...

in 1839. ''Carex arctata'' and '' Carex castanea'' (chestnut sedge, also in ''C.'' sect. ''Hymenochlaenae'') form a hybrid known as ''Carex'' × ''knieskernii'' (Knieskern's sedge).

Conservation

It is endangered in several states:

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

References

arctata Flora of North America {{Carex-stub