BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Carex geyeri | Elk Sedge 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Elk sedge is a rhizomatous graminoid 6 to 12 inches (15-30 cm) tall
[31].  Its clustered stems and scaley leaves remain green throughout the
winter, until they are replaced with new leaves in early spring.  Leaf
blades are 0.04 to 0.12 inch (1-3 mm) wide and flat or channelled [53].
Elk sedge has a solitary spike with a dark brown flower head at the top.
Its fruit is an achene.


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Elk sedge reproduces mainly by rhizomes but also reproduces by seed
[53].  Elk sedge usually produces only one seed per spike, and its
viability is low [25].  Seeds can be stored in the soil for several
decades and germinate following disturbance that opens up the canopy
[27].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Elk sedge occurs from the foothills to subalpine and dry montane forests
[31].  It occurs in a variety of habitats from mesic to dry and on all
slopes and aspects.  Elk sedge tends to occur more frequently on the dry
phases of the wetter habitat types.  Soil types vary from clay loam to
gravelly, sandy loam and can be deep or shallow [38,40,52].  Parent
materials include sandstone, shale, granite, andesite, rhyolite, and
latite [21,52].

Elk sedge associates not listed under Distribution and Occurrence
include Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), common juniper (Juniperus
communis), Rocky Mountain juniper (J. scopulorum), mountain big
sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana), rose (Rosa spp.),
snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), chokecherry (Prunus spp.), pinegrass
(Calamagrostis rubescens), lupine (Lupinus spp.), heartleaf arnica
(Arnica cordifolia), and Fendler meadowrue (Thalictrum fendleri)
[11,22,23,26,37,40].

Elevational ranges have been listed for elk sedge in some western states
[13,52]:

Idaho                from 3,700 to 8,700 feet (1,128-2,652 m)
Montana              from 3,400 to 7,800 feet (1,036-2,377 m)
Wyoming              from 6,800 to 10,000 feet (2,073-3,048 m)
Colorado             from 6,000 to 11,000 feet (1,829-3,353 m)
Utah                 from 6,000 to 10,800 feet (1,829-3,292 m)


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Elk sedge is a native, moderately shade-tolerant, cool-season, perennial
graminoid 53].  It is listed as a dominant, climax ground cover in
several western habitat types.

The quaking aspen/chokecherry/elk sedge type of Utah can be climax or
seral to the subalpine fir/Oregon grape type in northern Utah or the
subalpine fir/elk sedge type in southern and central Utah [38].  The
quaking aspen-lodgepole pine/elk sedge type in central Idaho is seral to
the lodgepole pine/pinegrass type [37].

Elk sedge is an indicator of late seral stages of succession or the
climax type on dry sites for several habitat types in Idaho
[47,48,49,50,51].  In grand fir/beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax)-blue
huckleberry (Vaccinium globulare) habitat types with an elk sedge layer
group, elk sedge can be replaced by pinegrass, arnica, or beargrass as
the overstory cover increases [43].

Elk sedge is an indicator of the wetter sites of the ponderosa pine
series and an indicator of the lowest elevation lodgepole pine series in
southeastern Wyoming habitat types [1].  Elk sedge also indicates the
drier sites of the subalpine fir series in western Montana, as well as
the coldest climatic conditions of the elk sedge phase within the
subalpine fir/elk sedge habitat type [40].

In habitat types where elk sedge is the dominant ground cover species,
it is often the first to sprout following fire [42].  It is also
dominant in early successional stages following fire in spruce-fir
habitat types of Colorado [10].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Elk sedge remains green throughout the winter, retaining its leaves
until new ones emerge in the spring [28].  It is usually one of the
first species to green up in the spring, using soil moisture and then
going dormant as later species emerge [50].  It flowers from April
through July in Montana [13].

Related categories for Species: Carex geyeri | Elk Sedge