Carex ferruginea
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| Carex ferruginea | |
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| Habit | |
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| Botanical illustration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Carex |
| Species: | C. ferruginea |
| Binomial name | |
| Carex ferruginea | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Carex ferruginea, the rusty sedge or rust-coloured sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae.[2][3] It is native to the Alps, the southern Carpathians, and the western Balkan Peninsula, and has been introduced to the U.S. state of New Jersey.[1] It is a glacial relict species.[4]
This species is a part of the distinctive grassland communities along the alpine chain. A phytosociological survey of the south-eastern Alps described the new ecological association Hormino pyrenaici–Caricetum ferrugineae, highlighting the independence of this flora from that of the northern Alps.[5]
The species ranges throughout the entire Alpine arc, the Jura, the southern Carpathians and parts of the Balkan Peninsula.[5]
It occupies the subalpine belt at roughly 1700–2300 metres elevation, where it builds dense, sloping meadows in sites with a constant groundwater supply—either from shallow aquifers in depressions or from the slow melt of long-lasting snow beds. On steep, freely draining slopes the prolonged snow-melt is vital for retaining soil moisture.[5]