Carex punctata Dotted Sedge

Dotted Sedge is an uncommon, maritime, oceanic species found mostly along the west coast of Britain where it grows in wet but well-drained, base-rich sandy soils, often in transitional habitats between sand dunes and salt marsh. It is easily confused with Distant Sedge (Carex distans) and often grows with it, but at least one of the bracts overtops the inflorescence and the minutely dotted utricles are attached at almost 90 degrees to the stems, giving it a distinctive appearance. It is rare in West Glamorgan where a small population was discovered by CH and Hilary Hipkin on Baglan Dunes in 2010. Other populations have since been discovered by BS in sandy habitats on Morfa Tip and more recently in sandy, transitional slack habitats in the flood zone of the Kenfig River near the river mouth. Sampling shows the species occurs in a moderately wide range of NVC dune slack communities ranging from open SD14, SD15 and mature SD16. It may have been under recorded in the past. However, populations appear to be very mobile and it is also possible that it is expanding its range along the south coast of Wales.

Native