Carex capitataSol.

capitate sedge

WFO wfo-0000345323 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex capitata, photographed by Wouter Koch
fig. a Wouter Koch, CC0 1.0 / 2016-09-10 / obs. 4872377
Carex capitata, photographed by Alan Weakley
fig. b Alan Weakley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 150637170
Carex capitata, photographed by Alan Weakley
fig. c Alan Weakley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 149055013
Carex capitata, photographed by Trevor Van Loon
fig. d Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 145049006
Carex capitata, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. e Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 87941517
Carex capitata, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. f Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 50237367
Carex capitata, photographed by Ida B D Jacobsen
fig. g Ida B D Jacobsen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168384882
Carex capitata, photographed by lallen
fig. h lallen, CC0 1.0 / obs. 178376320

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.

Native range 45 botanical countries

Regions where Carex capitata is native: Altay, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Austria, East European Russia, Finland, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, Sweden, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Greenland, Idaho, Labrador, Manitoba, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Oregon, Québec, Saskatchewan, Utah, Washington, Yukon AltayBuryatiyaChitaIrkutskKhabarovskKrasnoyarskMagadanMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeWest SiberiaYakutiyaAustriaEast European RussiaFinlandIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwaySwedenAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoGreenlandIdahoLabradorManitobaMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMontanaNevadaNew MexicoNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNunavutOntarioOregonQuébecSaskatchewanUtahWashingtonYukon
Native distribution of Carex capitata, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Labrador LAB
Manitoba MAN
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Montana MNT
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
Utah UTA
Washington WAS
Yukon YUK
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Buryatiya BRY
Chita CTA
Irkutsk IRK
Khabarovsk KHA
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Austria AUT EUROPE
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
Sweden SWE

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 172 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -35.2 °C -13.9 °C -4.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 11.9 °C 17.4 °C 27.5 °C
Annual rainfall 337 mm 744 mm 1,608 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 34 mm 63 mm 239 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 172 research-grade observations of Carex capitata 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 10 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 capitata f. alpicola Andersson
  • Carex capitata subsp. arctogena (Harry Sm.) Böcher
  • Carex capitata subsp. arctogena (Harry Sm.) Böcher ex Á.Löve, D.Löve & B.M.Kapoor
  • Carex capitata subsp. capitata
  • Carex capitata var. capitata
  • Carex rahuiensis Kurtz ex V.I.Krecz.
  • Diemisa capitata (Sol.) Raf.
  • Psyllophora capitata (Sol.) Schur
  • Vignea capitata Rchb.
  • Vignea capitata (Sol.) Soják

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.