Carex rariflora

{{Short description|Species of grass-like plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Carex rariflora.jpg

| image_caption = The sedge Carex rariflora. Taken in Atqasuk, Alaska.

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| taxon = Carex rariflora

| authority = (Wahlenb.) Sm.

}}

Carex rariflora, the looseflower alpine sedge,{{PLANTS|id=CARA5|taxon=Carex rariflora|accessdate=20 April 2017}} is a species of plant in the sedge family. It is found in the United States in Alaska and Maine, and in Canada in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CARA5|title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin|website=www.wildflower.org|access-date=2017-12-23}} In these regions, it is ranked as an obligate hydrophyte in establishing wetland areas.{{Cite web|url=http://wetland-plants.usace.army.mil/nwpl_static/index.html|title=NWPL Home v3.3-c1|website=wetland-plants.usace.army.mil|language=en|access-date=2017-12-23}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} It prefers wet environments such as open bogs, meadows, seepage slopes, and low-elevation heath tundra.{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357426|title=Carex rariflora in Flora of North America @ efloras.org|website=www.efloras.org|access-date=2017-12-23}} This perennial grass, which can be up to 3 feet tall, has fibrous roots, and holds all perennial organs underground. The leaves are alternate, long, narrow, and simple, with parallel veins. They grow in dense clusters, and the dead leaves are found at the base of the plant. The plant blooms and fruits in the summer. All flowers are monoecious and unisexual, producing a spike inflorescence. All inflorescences are subtended by shorter, proximal bracts.