Carex hystericinaMuhl. ex Willd.

bottlebrush sedge

WFO wfo-0000347623 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex hystericina, photographed by Randy A Nonenmacher
fig. a Randy A Nonenmacher, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-16 / obs. 143974432
Carex hystericina, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. b Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 140198038
Carex hystericina, photographed by Henry "Nick" Robertson
fig. c Henry "Nick" Robertson, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 138912745
Carex hystericina, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. d Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 132979305
Carex hystericina, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. e Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 132498115
Carex hystericina, photographed by aarongunnar
fig. f aarongunnar, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 145288332
Carex hystericina, photographed by er-birds
fig. g er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 88191246
Carex hystericina, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. h Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 86403818

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 43 botanical countries

Regions where Carex hystericina is native: Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Dominican Republic, Jamaica AlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaColoradoConnecticutIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNova ScotiaOhioOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingDominican RepublicJamaica
Native distribution of Carex hystericina, 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
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Dominican Republic DOM SOUTHERN AMERICA
Jamaica JAM

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 1,989 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -15.0 °C -9.7 °C -5.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.7 °C 26.0 °C 29.1 °C
Annual rainfall 731 mm 952 mm 1,275 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 67 mm 178 mm 252 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,989 research-grade observations of Carex hystericina 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 9 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 cooleyi Dewey
  • Carex erinacea Muhl. ex Steud.
  • Carex georgiana Dewey ex Steud.
  • Carex georgiana Dewey
  • Carex hystericina f. dudleyi (L.H.Bailey) Wiegand
  • Carex hystericina f. hystericina
  • Carex hystericina var. angustior L.H.Bailey
  • Carex hystericina var. cooleyi (Dewey) Dewey
  • Carex hystericina var. dudleyi L.H.Bailey

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.