Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Bristlystalked sedge
Carex leptalea · includes its varieties and subspecies
Bristlystalked sedge is recorded as native to 42 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 662 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Bristlystalked sedge at a glance
- Native in
- 662 counties, across 42 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Bristlystalked sedge is recorded as native to 42 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 662 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 662 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 12 counties
- Alaska 16 counties
- Arkansas 5 counties
- California 4 counties
- Colorado 4 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 23 counties
- Georgia 7 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 11 counties
- Indiana 24 counties
- Kentucky 7 counties
- Louisiana 19 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Maryland 19 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 53 counties
- Minnesota 35 counties
- Missouri 13 counties
- Montana 2 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 13 counties
- New York 43 counties
- North Carolina 32 counties
- North Dakota 1 county
- Ohio 15 counties
- Oregon 14 counties
- Pennsylvania 45 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 7 counties
- South Dakota 1 county
- Tennessee 19 counties
- Texas 12 counties
- Utah 3 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 65 counties
- Washington 18 counties
- West Virginia 11 counties
- Wisconsin 49 counties
- Wyoming 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
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.8 to 6.9
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CALE10
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 leptalea (PLANTS symbol CALE10), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- 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