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Blunt Broom Sedge (Carex tribuloides Wahlenb.)

Also known as awl-fruited oval sedge.

Page contents

Range
Habitat
Life Cycle
Fauna
Control
Uses
Relatives
Links

↑Range - Expand

Legend	Color
Native
Native or Not Present
Introduced or Not Present

This tentative map is based on our own research. It may have limited data on Canada and/or Mexico, and there is some subjectivity in our assignment of plants as introduced vs. expanded. Read more in this blog post.

Although this plant occurs somewhere in each of these regions, it may only occur in a small part of some or all of them.

↑Habitat

Blunt Broom Sedge is somewhat of a generalist of moist habitats, especially those wetter in spring than in fall. Natural habitats include floodplain forests and other bottomland forests, swamps, wet meadows, shores of lakes and ponds, wet black soil prairies, bogs, gravely seeps, and freshwater marshes. It is also found in some upland habitats including depression swamps and vernal pools in forests. Anthropogenic habitats include wet portions of gardens, weedy swales in suburban areas, wet areas along railroads and roadsides, and drainage ditches, especially any of these such areas that are seasonally wet.

Its water needs vary by region and also lighting conditions. In much of its range, it occurs both in wetlands and ranges slightly onto dry ground, but approaching its western range limits, in the Great Plains, it is strictly limited to wetlands. It is more likely to range onto drier ground in shade, whereas in full sun it is restricted to wetlands or at least consistently-moist sites. It has somewhat of a preference for sites that are wet in spring but become drier in summer.

It has some need for direct sunlight and cannot survive under a closed forest canopy.

It can grow on almost all soil textures, including gravel, sand, loam, silt, clay, and peat/muck, and various mixtures thereof, but it is rare on rivers and streams that cut through sandy substrates, being more common on those that cut through silty and clayey ground. Where it does occur on sandy soils it is more restricted to wet sites, and usually where there is locally a small amount of sand. It is almost entirely indifferent to soil pH, growing comfortably on strongly acidic the whole way through neutral sites.

Although the moist habitats in which it occurs do not frequently burn, it tends to respond well to fire and can occur in habitats that burn occasionally during the dry season (usually summer.) It cannot however survive regular mowing.

↑Life Cycle

Blunt Broom Sedge is a slow-growing, rhizomatous perennial sedge that has a higher ratio of foliage to flowering stems than most sedges.

Plants usually form small colonies in which only a small number of plants send up flowering shoots. Plants usually bloom in late spring to early summer, although individual plants occasionally bloom later, and the bloom period tends to be later in the far north of its range. Flowers are wind-pollinated.

This species tends to invest more energy in veegtative reproduction than seed production.

We could not find specific information about this species' lifespan, but colonies of rhizomatous sedges tend to be long-lived, even if individual plants do not persist as long. Because of its rhizomatous nature, colonies tend to be resilient to fluctuations in shorelines and water levels. Plants are also able to survive drought and fire; aboveground foliage can become dried out, and flammable, during periods of drought, but plants are usually just top-killed by fire and resprout when humid conditions return.

Colonies can be killed when shaded out by a closed canopy of plants, or by taller vegetation if a site becomes better-drained and able to support taller ground-level vegetation.

↑Faunal Associations

The seeds are eaten by a wide variety of birds, including ducks and other waterfowl, seed-eating songbirds, and upland game birds.

↑Control

This species may have some invasive potential, due to its adaptability to a wide range of habitats. It has established in the wild in the Pacific Northwest. We strongly recommend against introducing it to any areas not directly adjacent to its native range.

↑Uses

Blunt Broom Sedge is occasionally used in landscaping, where its use is usually limited to more naturalized gardens. It is valued for its lush foliage during the cool season, and its support of various butterflies, moths, skippers, and grasshoppers, and for its seeds attracting birds. It grows in a wider variety of habitats than most sedges, which makes it attractive to gardeners as it makes site selection a bit easier; in gardens it will do well on most wet sites.

This species is classified in the Cyperoideae section of the Carex genus, which was formerly referred to as the "Ovales" section. There are numerous native species in this section, many of which overlap with this one in range.