Carex stenophyllaWahlenb.

WFO wfo-0000351528 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex stenophylla, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. a Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-04-26 / obs. 171589247
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. b Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 122650098
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. c Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 120263398
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. d Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 116412346
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Konstantin Grebennikov
fig. e Konstantin Grebennikov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 99957927
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Konstantin Grebennikov
fig. f Konstantin Grebennikov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 99957930
Carex stenophylla, photographed by carnifex
fig. g carnifex, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134229852
Carex stenophylla, photographed by Ljaž
fig. h Ljaž, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197198563

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 38 botanical countries

Regions where Carex stenophylla is native: Afghanistan, Altay, China North-Central, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yemen, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Austria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine AfghanistanAltayChina North-CentralInner MongoliaIranKazakhstanKirgizstanLebanon-SyriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYemenPakistanWest HimalayaAustriaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyHungaryItalyKrymNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Carex stenophylla, 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 North-Central CHN
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yemen YEM
Austria AUT EUROPE
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

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 319 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -10.2 °C -4.1 °C -2.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 25.1 °C 26.8 °C 31.5 °C
Annual rainfall 287 mm 561 mm 689 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 51 mm 96 mm 119 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 319 research-grade observations of Carex stenophylla 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 28 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 arctica Deinboll ex Fr.
  • Carex arctica Deinb.
  • Carex curaica var. rigida Meinsh.
  • Carex dimorphotheca Stschegl.
  • Carex discessa V.I.Krecz. ex Grubov
  • Carex divisa var. stenophylla (Wahlenb.) Fiori
  • Carex duriuscula subsp. stenophylloides (V.I.Krecz.) S.Yun Liang & Y.C.Tang
  • Carex duriusculiformis V.I.Krecz.
  • Carex eremitica Paine
  • Carex glomerata Host
  • Carex hostii Schkuhr
  • Carex incurva var. arctica Hartm.
  • Carex juncifolia Host
  • Carex longepedicellata Boeckeler
  • Carex longipedicellata Boeckeler
  • Carex stenophylla f. elata (Schur) Kük.
  • Carex stenophylla f. elatior Kük.
  • Carex stenophylla subsp. stenophylloides (V.I.Krecz.) S.Yun Liang & Y.C.Tang
  • Carex stenophylla var. exigua (Schur) Kük.
  • Carex stenophylla var. interrupta Litv.
  • Carex stenophylla var. longipedicellata (Boeckeler) Kük.
  • Carex stenophylla var. pellucida Litv.
  • Carex stenophylloides V.I.Krecz.
  • Carex uralensis C.B.Clarke

and 4 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.