Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Carex nigricans is a species of sedge known by the common name black alpine sedge. It is native to western North America from Alaska to northern California to Colorado, where it grows in wet areas in mountain, taiga, and tundra habitat. This sedge produces thick mats and loose clumps of stems up to 30 centimeters tall from a network of short rhizomes. The pistillate flowers have dark leafs and the fruit is covered in a dark colored, long beaked perigynium.

Plant type

Grass

Size

1 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Brown

Special uses

Containers

Sun

Partial Shade

Site type

Wet, rocky slopes, meadows

Plant communities

Alpine Fell-Fields, Subalpine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 5 likely

Confirmed Likely

Common Ringlet

Coenonympha tullia

Olive Green Cutworm Moth

Dargida procinctus

Dun Skipper

Euphyes vestris

Umber Skipper

Poanes melane