Tussock Sedge    Carex stricta

This sedge has two-foot-long triangular leaf stems with sharp edges. Able to thrive in very wet locations, it grows in clumps that increase in size, with a small hill or tussock developing under the living plant. It spreads by underground stems, or rhizomes, and by seed dispersal.  Colonies of tussocks provide protected habitats between their clumps for the eggs of frogs, toads, salamanders and insects. The plant’s leaves are eaten by muskrats, and its seeds by water fowl, small mammals and songbirds. The tussock sedge also provides a platform for other wetlands plants, such as ferns, and serves as a good water’s edge stabilizer and land builder.

image credits: Betty Kistler