Carex vaginataTausch

Sheathed sedgesheathed sedge

WFO wfo-0000352308 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Carex vaginata, photographed by Derek
fig. a Derek, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-08 / obs. 142790936
Carex vaginata, photographed by Norma Malinowski
fig. b Norma Malinowski, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134268586
Carex vaginata, photographed by Jens-Christian Svenning
fig. c Jens-Christian Svenning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 85845944
Carex vaginata, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. d Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 56363820
Carex vaginata, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. e Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 49712501
Carex vaginata, photographed by Rob Foster
fig. f Rob Foster, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 44209823
Carex vaginata, photographed by Norma Malinowski
fig. g Norma Malinowski, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134273379
Carex vaginata, photographed by Юлия
fig. h Юлия, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203402086

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 62 botanical countries

Regions where Carex vaginata is native: Altay, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Sakhalin, Transcaucasus, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Greenland, Illinois, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Québec, Saskatchewan, Vermont, Wisconsin, Yukon AltayChitaInner MongoliaIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeSakhalinTranscaucasusTuvaWest SiberiaYakutiyaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayPolandRomaniaSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaGreenlandIllinoisLabradorMaineManitobaMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNunavutQuébecSaskatchewanVermontWisconsinYukon Korea
Native distribution of Carex vaginata, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
British Columbia BRC
Greenland GNL
Illinois ILL
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nunavut NUN
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
Vermont VER
Wisconsin WIS
Yukon YUK
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Transcaucasus TCS
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
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
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR

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 723 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -28.1 °C -13.9 °C -7.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 13.2 °C 21.7 °C 24.1 °C
Annual rainfall 453 mm 708 mm 1,261 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 49 mm 109 mm 236 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 723 research-grade observations of Carex vaginata 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 35 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 altocaulis (Dewey) Britton
  • Carex curvirostra Hartm.
  • Carex depauperata Hornem.
  • Carex falcata Turcz.
  • Carex mielichhoferi Sm.
  • Carex nematostachya Cham. ex V.I.Krecz.
  • Carex nivicola G.Don ex Boott
  • Carex panicea subsp. vaginata (Tausch) Rouy
  • Carex panicea var. pauciflora Wahlenb.
  • Carex panicea var. sparsiflora Wahlenb.
  • Carex petersii C.A.Mey. ex F.Schmidt
  • Carex phaecostachya Sm.
  • Carex phaeostachya Sm.
  • Carex quasivaginata C.B.Clarke
  • Carex saltuensis L.H.Bailey
  • Carex scotica Spreng.
  • Carex smithii Tausch
  • Carex sparsiflora (Wahlenb.) Steud.
  • Carex sparsiflora subsp. altocaulis Kük.
  • Carex sparsiflora subsp. altocaulis (Dewey) Britton
  • Carex sparsiflora subsp. polygama Andersson
  • Carex sparsiflora var. borealis Andersson
  • Carex sparsiflora var. distracta Norman
  • Carex sparsiflora var. falcata (Turcz.) Kük.

and 11 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.