Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Ravenfoot sedge
Carex crus-corvi
Ravenfoot sedge is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 295 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Ravenfoot sedge at a glance
- Native in
- 295 counties, across 22 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Ravenfoot sedge is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 295 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 295 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 5 counties
- Arkansas 15 counties
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 4 counties
- Illinois 43 counties
- Indiana 19 counties
- Iowa 4 counties
- Kansas 10 counties
- Kentucky 23 counties
- Louisiana 46 counties
- Michigan 4 counties
- Minnesota 1 county
- Missouri 33 counties
- Nebraska 2 counties
- North Carolina 4 counties
- Ohio 5 counties
- Oklahoma 9 counties
- South Carolina 2 counties
- Tennessee 16 counties
- Texas 39 counties
- Virginia 3 counties
- Wisconsin 2 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 3.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 125
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CACR8
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Carex crus-corvi (PLANTS symbol CACR8).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources