Family: sedges (Cyperaceae)
Blooming time: March–May
Size: 10–30 cm
Habitat: dry meadows, shrubby slopes and sunny forests
Mountain sedge (Carex montana) is a plant without developed rhizomes (underground lateral shoots), which forms medium-sized, dense tufts. The leaves are 1.5 to 2 mm wide. The sheaths of the basal leaves, which encircle the stem at ground level, are reddish-brown. At the top of the stem small partial inflorescences (spikelets) develop, which cling tightly together. Right at the top is the male spikelet, below it are 1 or 2 female ones. The egg-shaped female spikelets are 5 to 8 mm long. They consist of densely protruding hairy pods (fruits) without a beak, which at maturity are 3 to 4 mm long. The pistil has three grooves.
Mountain sedge grows on barren, moderately acidic soils, with a medium amount of humus on moderately warm sites. It is widespread throughout Slovenia, only in high mountains and in dense forests will we not find it.
