Carex stricta
{{Short description|Species of grass-like plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image=Carex stricta.jpg
|status=G5
|status_system=TNC
|genus=Carex
|parent=Carex sect. Phacocystis
|display_parents=3
|species=stricta
|authority=Lam.
|synonyms=
- Carex elata Gooden.
- Carex strictior Dewey
}}
Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge{{cite web |url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAST8 |title=Carex stricta Lam., upright sedge |work=PLANTS Profile |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |accessdate=May 22, 2013}} and tussock sedge.Coladonato, M. 1994. [http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/carstr/all.html Carex stricta.] In: Fire Effects Information System, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water.[http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/tussock_sedge.htm Carex stricta.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001172553/http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/tussock_sedge.htm |date=2012-10-01 }} Study of Northern Virginia Ecology. Fairfax County Public Schools. It grows up to {{convert|2|ft}} tall and {{convert|2|ft}} 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,{{BONAP|ref|genus=Carex|species=stricta|accessdate=15 April 2019}} it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357561 Carex stricta.] Flora of North America.
Their seeds are carried by the wind.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} When seeds land, they are eaten by birds such as dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, wild turkey, and ducks such as mallard and wood duck. The seeds are also eaten by squirrels and other mammals. The plant can also reproduce vegetatively via rhizomes, and often form colonies.
It is a larval host to the black dash, the dun skipper, and the eyed brown.The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.