Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge[1] and tussock sedge.[2] The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water.[3] It grows up to tall and wide. When the leaves die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock".[3] Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains, it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.[4]
Their seeds are carried by the wind. When seeds land, they are eaten by birds such as dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, wild turkey, and ducks such as mallard and wood duck. The seeds are also eaten by squirrels and other mammals.[3] The plant can also reproduce vegetatively via rhizomes, and often form colonies.[3]
It is a larval host to the black dash, the dun skipper, and the eyed brown.[5]