''Carex stricta'' is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge and tussock sedge. The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water.''Carex stricta''.
Study of Northern Virginia Ecology. Fairfax County Public Schools. It grows up to tall and wide. When the

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock". Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains, it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America. Their seeds are carried by the wind. When seeds land, they are eaten by birds such as dark-eyed junco,

northern cardinal The northern cardinal (''Cardinalis cardinalis'') is a bird in the genus ''Cardinalis''; it is also known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal (which was its name prior to 1985). It can be found in southea ...

, wild turkey, and ducks such as

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

and wood duck. The seeds are also eaten by

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

s and other mammals. The plant can also reproduce vegetatively via

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s, and often form colonies. It is a larval host to the

black dash ''Euphyes conspicua'', the black dash, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. The species was first described by William Henry Edwards in 1863. It is found in the upper Midwest of North America, from eastern Nebraska east to southern Ontario ...

, the dun skipper, and the

eyed brown ''Satyrodes eurydice'', the eyed brown or marsh eyed brown, is a species of Satyrinae butterfly that is native to North America. There are two subspecies—the nominate species, the eyed brown (''S. e. eurydice''), and the smokey eyed brow ...

.The Xerces Society (2016), ''Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects'', Timber Press.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15615554 stricta Flora of the United States Flora of Canada Plants described in 1792