A Rare and Fascinating Native, the Green Star Sedge
SICIM Email
By Dawn Slack
There is a group of us that admire plants and especially admire sedges for their humble yet exquisite existence. When we learned there was a rare and new-to-Indiana sedge growing in areas designated unique and special (calcareous fens), we had to see it. We had to know what it looked like and why it was growing in these unique places. We had to understand why it grows, where it grows, who uses it and which plants grow with it (relationships are the secret to living). We needed to see it in bloom, out of bloom, and what bloomed when it bloomed.
Its name is green star sedge, Carex viridistellata. Surely with such a name it is an astounding sedge that twinkles as only a green sedge can amongst the dense and green vegetation of a calcareous fen. See, not only is its name indicative of the cosmos but its place of residence (those fens) is certainly a jewel among jewels, albeit a highly overlooked (perhaps purposely ignored) one. And isn’t this the way it often goes? We humans with our big fantastic brains often fail to see the less adorned amongst us. Most humans tend to put sedges in this category. But if you stop and peer intently at a sedge you will see beautiful specimens richly decorated with earthy shades of reds, purples, greens, blues, and yellows. You will observe an unending array of “flower” shapes reminiscent of stars, swords, crowns, clubs, drooping tassels, bushy tails, or dollops of pearls. And you will find tall sedges, tiny sedges, tussock sedges, and lone sedges as well as blue sedges, green sedges, and even yellow sedges.
Green Star Sedge Distribution, copyright 2014 Esri, USDA-NRCS-NGCE & NPDT
But it’s not just the green star sedge that is of interest, it is much more. Its home, those fens, the people who own them and the neighbors are of interest as well. This is a journey to connect with people, to listen to and learn about their stories of the land they own. It is a journey to collaborate to save the green star sedge from eradication.
We have much to learn about this sedge and its relationships. As of right now, the green star sedge is considered a rare species; growing in a dwindling number of fens. No matter the outcome the journey will be fruitful because we will learn about it, it’s habitats and the relationships it takes to preserve it. We hope you will join and support us on this journey for we will study a species surely destined for stardom.
Team members involved in this discovery: Scott Namestick, Stuart Orr, Nathan Herbert, Dawn Slack, Jeff Ray, Roger Hedge, CISMA (HC RIPS), and neighbors