Carex subspathacea
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the sedge family}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Ishavsstarr - Carex subspathacea0199 - Flickr - Ragnhild & Neil Crawford.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Carex
| species = subspathacea
| authority = Wormsk. ex Hornem.G.C.Oeder & al. (eds.), Fl. Dan. 9: 4, t. 1530 (1816)
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|
- Carex hoppneri Boott
- Carex subspathacea f. stricta Drejer
- Carex salina subsp. subspathacea (Wormsk. ex Hornem.)
- Carex aquaticus var. nardifolia (Wahlenb.)
- Carex aquatilis subsp. nardifolia Wahlenb.
- Carex salina var. minor Boott
- Carex salina f. nana Trautv.
- Carex salina var. pumila Blytt
- Carex salina f. stricta (Drejer) Almq.
- Carex subspathacea f. curvata' Drejer
- Carex subspathacea f. nardifolia (Wahlenb.) Fr.
- Carex subspathacea var. nardifolia (Wahlenb.) Fr..
- Carex subspathacea var. planifolia Fr.
- Carex subspathacea f. stricta Drejer.
}}}}
Carex subspathacea, called Hoppner's sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to coastal salt marshes of the Arctic and northwest Pacific Oceans; Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, northern and far eastern Russia, Korea, and Japan.{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:302475-1 |title=Carex subspathacea Wormsk. ex Hornem. |author= |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=3 January 2021 }} It is grazed by snow geese (Anser caerulescens).{{cite journal |title=The Leaf and Shoot Demography of Grazed and Ungrazed Plants of Carex subspathacea |last1=Kotanen |first1=P. |last2=Jefferies |first2=R. L. |journal=Journal of Ecology |year=1987 |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=961–975 |doi=10.2307/2260307 |jstor=2260307 |bibcode=1987JEcol..75..961K }}
Description
Carex subspathacea is a low-growing, rhizomatous sedge species, often growing in matted clumps in salty environments such as coastal salt-marshes. Leaves are long and narrow, growing up to 20 cm in height. Culms are smooth, usually shorter than the shoots. The inflorescence is a spike, fruiting in late summer.{{Cite web |title=Plants of Iceland: Carex subspathacea, Hoppner's Sedge, Flæðastör |url=https://www.iceland-nh.net/plants/data/Carex-subspathacea/carex_subspathacea.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.iceland-nh.net}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Carex subspathacea |url=https://svalbardflora.no/index.php/carex/carex-subspathacea |access-date=February 5, 2025 |website=svalbardflora.no |language=en-gb}}