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)
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 vesicaria is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as bladder sedge, inflated sedge, and blister sedge. It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America.
Carex lanceolata is a species of sedge, native to the eastern half of China, Mongolia, eastern Siberia, Korea, Sakhalin, and Japan. Its seeds are dispersed by ants.
Carex viridula, known as little green sedge, green sedge, or greenish sedge, is a small flowering plant native to North America, Europe, Asia, and Morocco.
Carex praecox, the spring sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Europe, western Asia, and Mongolia. Its diploid chromosome number is 2n=58, with some uncertainty.
Carex rupestris, called the curly sedge and rock sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to temperate and subarctic North America, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, and Asia. It prefers to grow on rocky ledges.
Carex stipata, variously called the prickly sedge, awl-fruited sedge, awlfruit sedge, owlfruit sedge, swamp sedge, sawbeak sedge, stalk-grain sedge and common fox sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Canada, the United States, China, Korea, Japan, and Far Eastern Russia. It is a wetland obligate.
Carex microglochin, called the fewseeded bog sedge and bristle sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to temperate and subarctic North America, South America, Europe and Asia. It is uncertain which hemisphere it originated on before dispersing to the other.
Carex platyphylla, called the broad leaf sedge and silver sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to southeast Canada, and the north-central and eastern United States. It is often found in the same forests as Carex plantaginea, also a broad-leaved species, but they do not compete, as C. plantaginea prefers wet areas and C. platyphylla prefers it dry. Silver sedge is considered a useful native ornamental, since it is showy, deer-resistant, and able to tolerate both deep shade and drought once established.
Carex dioica, the dioecious sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Iceland, the Faroes, Svalbard, nearly all of Europe, western Siberia, and the Altai. It prefers to live in calcareous fens.
Carex divulsa, the grey sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Macaronesia, Europe, northwest Africa, the Caucasus region, and the Middle East as far east as Turkmenistan. It has been introduced to northeast Argentina, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, the North Island of New Zealand, and Tasmania and Victoria in Australia. It is the namesake of the Carex divulsa aggregate.
Carex hostiana, the tawny sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Europe and northeast Canada, and extinct in Massachusetts. It is a member of the Carex flava species complex.
Carex strigosa, the thin-spiked wood sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Europe and the Caucasus region. Its diploid chromosome number is 2n=66.
Carex breviculmis, called the Asian shortstem sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Asia from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, north as far as Khabarovsk Krai, and Malesia, New Guinea, Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. It has been introduced to the US state of Mississippi. Typically found in forests, it is quite shade tolerant.
Carex lachenalii, called the twotipped sedge and hare's foot sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to temperate and subarctic North America, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, and Asia, and the South Island of New Zealand. Its diploid chromosome number is 2n=64, with some uncertainty.
Carex tribuloides, the blunt broom sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to the eastern United States, eastern Canada, and Veracruz in Mexico, and introduced in Sweden. It is an important food for soras during their spring migration.
Carex cephalophora, called the oval-leaf sedge, oval-headed sedge, woodbank sedge, and short-headed bracted sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to the central and eastern United States and southeastern Canada, and introduced to Germany. It is found in late-succession old fields, even those that have become shaded woodlands.
Carex fuliginosa, the short-leaved sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, with a circumpolar distribution, and found in mountains further south; such as the eastern Alps, the Carpathians and the Rockies. It is wind-pollinated.
Carex deweyanaDewey's sedge, short-scale sedge, is a species of sedge native to Canada and the United States.
