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Cyperaceae family

Stiff Sedge Carex biltmoreana

Native

Stiff Sedge is a perennial grass native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Carex biltmoreana, known as Biltmore sedge, is a species of sedge that was first described by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1910. It is endemic to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in southwestern North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, and northeastern Georgia. Biltmore sedge grows on rock outcrops, often on granite, and in adjacent woodlands. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 9 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~36 caterpillar species

Carex supports ~36 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Carex in North America, including:

Aletia oxygala · owlet moth Amphipoea americana · American Ear Moth Amphipoea interoceanica · Interoceanic Ear Moth Amphipoea velata · owlet moth Apamea finitima · owlet moth Apamea indocilis · Ignorant Apamea
+ 8 more species →
Biselachista cucullata · grass-miner moth Celaena reniformis · owlet moth Chortodes inquinata · owlet moth Cingilia catenaria · Chain-Dotted Geometer Cosmopterix clemensella · cosmet moth Cosmopterix ebriola · cosmet moth Cosmopterix fernaldella · cosmet moth Ctenucha brunnea · Brown Ctenucha
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
[12] County range — GBIF Open Data — open-licensed occurrences (CC0/CC-BY) → county
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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