Carex microglochinWahlenb.

fewseeded bog sedge

WFO wfo-0000348852 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Carex microglochin, photographed by Michael D. Pirie
fig. a Michael D. Pirie, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-05 / obs. 155392695

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 55 botanical countries

Regions where Carex microglochin is native: Afghanistan, Altay, China South-Central, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Magadan, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, East Himalaya, Nepal, West Himalaya, Austria, Finland, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Greenland, Labrador, Manitoba, New Mexico, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, Utah, Wyoming, Yukon, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Chile Central, Chile South, Ecuador, Peru AfghanistanAltayChina South-CentralIranKazakhstanKirgizstanMagadanMongoliaNorth CaucasusQinghaiSakhalinTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaEast HimalayaNepalWest HimalayaAustriaFinlandFranceIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorwaySwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaColoradoGreenlandLabradorManitobaNew MexicoNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNunavutOntarioQuébecUtahWyomingYukonArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaChile CentralChile SouthEcuadorPeru
Native distribution of Carex microglochin, 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
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
China South-Central CHC
Iran IRN
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Magadan MAG
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
Colorado COL
Greenland GNL
Labrador LAB
Manitoba MAN
New Mexico NWM
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Québec QUE
Utah UTA
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Great Britain GRB
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Argentina Northwest AGW SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina South AGS
Bolivia BOL
Chile Central CLC
Chile South CLS
Ecuador ECU
Peru PER
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL
Nepal NEP
West Himalaya WHM

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 127 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -29.7 °C -15.4 °C -3.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 11.2 °C 14.6 °C 21.6 °C
Annual rainfall 290 mm 1,063 mm 1,863 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 19 mm 161 mm 358 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 127 research-grade observations of Carex microglochin 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 lyonii Boott
  • Carex microglochin subsp. microglochin
  • Carex pauciflora Balb. ex Boott
  • Carex pauciflora var. microglochin (Wahlenb.) Poir. ex Lam.
  • Carex pauciflora var. microglochin (Wahlenb.) Poir.
  • Caricinella microglochin (Wahlenb.) St.-Lag.
  • Kobresia microglochin (Wahlenb.) Tang & W.T.Wang
  • Uncinia europaea J.Gay
  • Uncinia microglochin (Wahlenb.) Spreng.

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.