Carex brunnescens(Pers.) Poir.

brownish sedge

WFO wfo-0000345156 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex brunnescens, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. a Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-23 / obs. 145604427
Carex brunnescens, photographed by Trevor Van Loon
fig. b Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 143670328
Carex brunnescens, photographed by Brandon Wheeler
fig. c Brandon Wheeler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 138718563
Carex brunnescens, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. d Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 132757839
Carex brunnescens, photographed by er-birds
fig. e er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 82348388
Carex brunnescens, photographed by er-birds
fig. f er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 82346722
Carex brunnescens, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. g Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 52353612
Carex brunnescens, photographed by Mary E. Macaulay, P.Eng.
fig. h Mary E. Macaulay, P.Eng., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 138354879

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
03304730
Filed as
Carex brunnescens (Pers.) Poir.
Det. by
E. Maguilla 2015-01-01
Collected
B. H. M. Mooers 1984-07-25
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 84 botanical countries

Regions where Carex brunnescens is native: Altay, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Magadan, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Sakhalin, Transcaucasus, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Greenland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon AltayIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKrasnoyarskMagadanMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeSakhalinTranscaucasusWest SiberiaYakutiyaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFinlandFranceIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutGeorgiaGreenlandIdahoIllinoisIndianaLabradorMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaTennesseeUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingYukon KoreaDelawareRhode I.
Native distribution of Carex brunnescens, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Georgia GEO
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Magadan MAG
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Transcaucasus TCS
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 749 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -19.8 °C -13.2 °C -7.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 16.4 °C 23.0 °C 26.2 °C
Annual rainfall 649 mm 968 mm 1,682 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 74 mm 177 mm 329 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 749 research-grade observations of Carex brunnescens that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 36 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Carex alpicola (Wahlenb.) H.Lindb.
  • Carex brunnescens subsp. alaskana Kalela
  • Carex brunnescens subsp. pacifica Kalela
  • Carex brunnescens subsp. vitilis (Fr.) Kalela
  • Carex brunnescens var. brunnescens
  • Carex brunnescens var. gracilior Britton
  • Carex brunnescens var. laetior (F.Nyl.) Holmb.
  • Carex brunnescens var. sphaerostachya (Tuck.) Kük.
  • Carex brunnescens var. vitilis (Fr.) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Carex buckleyi Dewey
  • Carex canescens prol. brunnescens (Pers.) Rouy
  • Carex canescens subsp. brunnescens (Pers.) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Carex canescens subsp. vitilis (Fr.) K.Richt.
  • Carex canescens var. alpicola Wahlenb.
  • Carex canescens var. brunnescens (Pers.) W.D.J.Koch
  • Carex canescens var. persoonii Christ
  • Carex canescens var. sphaerostachya Tuck.
  • Carex canescens var. vitilis (Fr.) J.Carey
  • Carex canescens var. vulgaris L.H.Bailey
  • Carex curta var. brunnescens Pers.
  • Carex gebhardii Hoppe
  • Carex gracilis Ehrh.
  • Carex gracilis Ehrh. ex Schkuhr
  • Carex persoonii W.D.J.Koch

and 12 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.