There are over 190 vascular plant species on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. This figure does not include algae, mosses, and lichens, which are non-vascular plants. For an island so far north, this number of species constitutes an astonishing variety of plant life. Because of the harsh climate and the short growing season, all the plants are slow growing. They seldom grow higher than 10 cm (4 in)
Note that information on this species applies to Western Europe and some details may not be consistent with the species in other parts of its range.
Carex is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called true sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as caricology.
Carex echinata is a species of sedge known by the common names star sedge and little prickly sedge.
Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge and tussock sedge. The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water. It grows up to 2 feet (0.61 m) tall and 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. When the leaves die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock". Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains, it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.
Carex rossii, commonly known as Ross's sedge, is a hardy species of sedge that is often a pioneer species in areas with little or no established vegetation, or in places where disturbance has occurred. Ross's sedge grows in a variety of habitats throughout much of western North America, from Alaska to Ontario, south to New Mexico and California. It flowers in May and June.
Carex pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family commonly called Pennsylvania sedge. Other common names include early sedge, common oak sedge, and yellow sedge.
Carex inops is a species of sedge known as long-stolon sedge and western oak sedge. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs throughout the southern half of Canada and the western and central United States.
Carex roanensis is a species of sedge known by the common name Roan Mountain sedge. It is native to North America, where it can be found in the southern Appalachian Mountains. It was first collected on Roan Mountain in Tennessee in 1936. It was not collected again for fifty years. Now it is known from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Carex fraseriana is a perennial member of the sedge family with the common name Fraser's sedge. It was the only species of the genus Cymophyllus before it was re-transferred to Carex.
Carex brunnescens, the brownish sedge or green bog sedge, is a species of plant in the sedge family (Cyperaceae). It has a circumboreal distribution, and is native to North America and Eurasia. In the United States it is primarily found in the Northeast and Midwest extending south into the Appalachian Mountains, with disjunct populations westward in the Rocky Mountains. It has a wide-ranging natural habitat, is in found in forests, bogs, fens, and rock outcrops.
Carex bicolor, the bicoloured sedge, is a species of sedge native to North America, Northern Europe and Northern Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the plant's conservation status as being of least concern because it has a widespread distribution and faces no particular threats.
Carex remota, the remote sedge, is a species in the genus Carex, native to Europe, the Atlas Mountains in Africa, and western Asia. It is a riparian forest specialist. It is known as one of the most frequently hybridizing species of Carex, forming hybrids with C. appropinquata, C. arenaria, C. brizoides, C. canescens, C. divulsa, C. echinata, C. elongata, C. leporina, C. otrubae, C. paniculata, and C. spicata.
Carex flava, called hedgehog grass, is a widespread species of sedge, native to the northern United States, Canada, Iceland, Europe, the Atlas Mountains in Africa, the Transcaucasus area, and parts of Siberia. It is the namesake of the Carex flava species complex.
Carex crinita, called fringed sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to central and eastern Canada and the central and eastern United States. It is the namesake of the Carex crinita species complex.
Carex maritima, called the curved sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, with a bipolar distribution in mountains and cold regions. It dispersed in the Pleistocene from the northern to the southern hemisphere.
Carex lepidocarpa, called the long-stalked yellow-sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to eastern Canada, Morocco, and most of Europe. It is a member of the Carex flava species complex.
Carex peckii, Peck's sedge, Peck's oak sedge, or white-tinged sedge, is a species of sedge native to Canada and the United States.
