Description
Carex virgata is also known as cutty grass or swamp sedge. Carex virgata is a vigorous sedge with bright green leaves that can handle swamps to dry soils making it a good low maintenance landscape plant. It pairs well with Carex secta (also called Pukio) for bank stabilisation. As it handles being in a swampy area, it is ideal for lower bank planting in riparian revegetation projects. It is also useful in water treatment projects as it minimises nutrient runoff. This makes it ideal for planting streamside on farms.
Carex virgata is widespread in open, swampy conditions and also in damp sites within lowland forest. In parts of the country this sedge is often the dominant carice of lowland alluvial forest. Found in communities that include but are not limited to Apodasmia similis, Carex maorica, Carex secta, Phormium tenax, and Eleocharis acuta. For more information on plant communities, we recommend DOC’s publication Native Plant Communities of the Canterbury Plains.
