Golden Sedge

Golden Sedge (Carex lutea) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Golden Sedge / Center For Plant Conservation

Carex lutea (Golden Sedge) – FSUS

Appendix B

Federal Register :: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Carex lutea (Golden Sedge)

Info from Wikimedia via USFWS:

found only in Onslow and Pender counties, In 2002 the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared this plant endangered and in 2011 designated critical habitat. The golden sedge is a perennial member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae) known only from North Carolina, specifically from the northeast Cape Fear River watershed in Pender and Onslow counties. Soils supporting the species are very wet to periodically shallowly inundated. The species prefers the ecotone (narrow transition zone between two diverse ecological communities) between the pine savanna and adjacent wet hardwood or hardwood/conifer forest. Most plants occur in the partially shaded savanna/swamp where occasional to frequent fires favor an herbaceous ground layer and suppress shrub dominance. This photo was taken on May 30 2013 and shows the plant inflorecense.