Carex leersiiF.W.Schultz

WFO wfo-0000348209 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex leersii, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. a Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-04-27 / obs. 70356700
Carex leersii, photographed by hecklemore
fig. b hecklemore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200134260
Carex leersii, photographed by Tom Erler
fig. c Tom Erler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 179654421
Carex leersii, photographed by Tom Erler
fig. d Tom Erler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 179654207
Carex leersii, photographed by Tom Erler
fig. e Tom Erler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 179654029
Carex leersii, photographed by Lucie Karna
fig. f Lucie Karna, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 136760930
Carex leersii, photographed by Tom Erler
fig. g Tom Erler, CC0 1.0 / obs. 135375994
Carex leersii, photographed by Thomas Ebner
fig. h Thomas Ebner, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 132360545

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 46 botanical countries

Regions where Carex leersii is native: Algeria, Morocco, Altay, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaMoroccoAltayCyprusEast Aegean Is.IranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelgiumBulgariaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Carex leersii, 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
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Morocco MOR
West Himalaya WHM ASIA-TROPICAL

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. 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 166 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -7.4 °C -2.0 °C 2.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.4 °C 23.8 °C 26.8 °C
Annual rainfall 608 mm 882 mm 1,719 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 88 mm 157 mm 285 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 166 research-grade observations of Carex leersii 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 29 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 canescens Leers
  • Carex chabertii F.W.Schultz
  • Carex contigua subsp. leersii (Kneuck.) Degen
  • Carex cuprina (Sándor ex Heuff.) Nendtv. ex A.Kern.
  • Carex divulsa subsp. chabertii (F.W.Schultz) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Carex divulsa subsp. leersii (Kneuck.) W.Koch
  • Carex divulsa var. chabertii (F.W.Schultz) Nyman
  • Carex divulsa var. intermedia Lange
  • Carex durieui (F.W.Schultz) F.W.Schultz
  • Carex echinata var. leersii (Kneuck.) Kük.
  • Carex leerseana Rouy
  • Carex leersiana (Rouy) Prain
  • Carex leersiana Rauschert
  • Carex leersii subvar. subramosa Vollm.
  • Carex leersii subvar. virescens Vollm.
  • Carex leersii var. depauperata Hampe ex Vollm.
  • Carex muricata f. leerseana Rouy
  • Carex muricata prol. leersiana Rouy
  • Carex muricata subsp. leersii (F.W.Schultz) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Carex muricata var. chabertii (F.W.Schultz) Maire & Weiller
  • Carex muricata var. leersii (F.W.Schultz) Kneuck.
  • Carex nemorosa var. cuprina Sándor ex Heuff.
  • Carex pairae subsp. leersii (F.W.Schultz) O.Schwarz
  • Carex pairae var. leersii (Kneuck.) P.Fourn.

and 5 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. 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.