Carex magellanicaLam.

boreal bog sedge

WFO wfo-0000348649 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex magellanica, photographed by Pablo
fig. a Pablo, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-02-03 / obs. 178147571
Carex magellanica, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. b Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 145785450
Carex magellanica, photographed by er-birds
fig. c er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141488686
Carex magellanica, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. d Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98825400
Carex magellanica, photographed by John Baur
fig. e John Baur, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 84061417
Carex magellanica, photographed by Nolan Exe
fig. f Nolan Exe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 60454447
Carex magellanica, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. g Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 47836154
Carex magellanica, photographed by Norma Malinowski
fig. h Norma Malinowski, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 45624254

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 69 botanical countries

Regions where Carex magellanica is native: Falkland Is., Altay, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Greenland, Idaho, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Saskatchewan, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Yukon, Argentina South, Chile Central, Chile South Falkland Is.AltayJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKrasnoyarskMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeTranscaucasusTürkiyeWest SiberiaYakutiyaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyIcelandIrelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayPolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaColoradoConnecticutGreenlandIdahoLabradorMaineManitobaMichiganMinnesotaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOhioOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanUtahVermontWashingtonWisconsinYukonArgentina SouthChile CentralChile South
Native distribution of Carex magellanica, 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
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
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
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Iceland ICE
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Argentina South AGS SOUTHERN AMERICA
Chile Central CLC
Chile South CLS
Falkland Is. FAL ANTARCTICA

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are 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 1,169 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -22.9 °C -14.3 °C -5.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 14.4 °C 22.4 °C 25.7 °C
Annual rainfall 574 mm 914 mm 1,811 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 61 mm 157 mm 337 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 1,169 research-grade observations of Carex magellanica 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 abjiciens Steud.
  • Carex atrata subsp. magellanica (Lam.) Wahlenb.
  • Carex atrata var. magellanica (Lam.) Wahlenb.
  • Carex cernua Phil.
  • Carex gentiliana H.Lév.
  • Carex irrigua (Wahlenb.) Sm. ex Hoppe
  • Carex lenticularis Dewey
  • Carex limosa subsp. irrigua Wahlenb.
  • Carex limosa subsp. planifolia (Kohts) K.Richt.
  • Carex limosa var. humilior St.-Lag.
  • Carex limosa var. irrigata Wahlenb.
  • Carex limosa var. irrigua (Wahlenb.) Hartm.
  • Carex limosa var. irrigua Wahlenb.
  • Carex limosa var. magellanica (Lam.) Fiori
  • Carex magellanica f. stygigena Holmb.
  • Carex magellanica f. virescens Holmb.
  • Carex magellanica subsp. planitiei (Asch. & Graebn.) W.Schultze-Motel
  • Carex magellanica var. irrigua (Wahlenb.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.
  • Carex magellanica var. planitiei Asch. & Graebn.
  • Carex majae A.P.Khokhr.
  • Carex ontakensis H.Lév.
  • Carex paupercula Michx.
  • Carex paupercula subsp. irrigua (Wahlenb.) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Carex paupercula var. irrigua (Wahlenb.) Fernald

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. 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.