{{Short description|Species of grass-like plant}} {{Speciesbox |image=Carex vesicaria inflorescense (21).jpg |status=LC |status_system=IUCN3.1 |status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Lansdown, R.V. |date=2014 |title=''Carex vesicaria'' |volume=2014 |article-number=e.T167846A42370710 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T167846A42370710.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> |display_parents=3 |genus=Carex |parent=Carex sect. Vesicariae |species=vesicaria |authority=L. }}
'''''Carex vesicaria''''' is an essentially Holarctic species of sedge known as '''bladder sedge''',<ref name=BSBI/> '''inflated sedge''',<ref name=vascan/> and '''blister sedge'''.<ref name=Calscape/> It has been used to insulate footwear in Norway, Sweden and among the Sami people, and for basketry in North America.<ref name=TAD/><ref name=wildflower/>
==Description== ''Carex vesicaria'' is a perennial plant with short creeping rhizomes which grow shoots resembling small tufts. It grows to heights of {{cvt|30|to|120|cm|}}. Its stems are rough near the tip but smoother towards their base. The narrow, ridged and pleated leaves can grow to around {{cvt|1|m|ft}} in length or more, and have fine toothed edges and sharp points. The fruits are erect, glossy and bulbous.<ref name=naturespot/> The flower clusters are long and cylindrical in shape and each contains up to 150 developing fruits.<ref name=Calscape/>
{{Gallery |Carex vesicaria inflorescense (25).jpg|Flowering |Carex vesicaria kz02.jpg|Sedge meadow in northern Poland }}
==Taxonomy== ''Carex vesicaria'' was first formally named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.<ref name=ipni/> Many forms and varieties have been named, but no infraspecific taxa of ''Carex vesicaria'' are accepted in Kew's Plants of the World Online {{as of|March 2020|lc=y}}.<ref name=powo/>
==Distribution== Bladder sedge has a circumpolar, boreo-temperate distribution.<ref name=OABF/> It is native to northern North America being recorded over most of Canada and the northern United States, as far south as California. It can also be found in nearly all of northern Europe and northern Asia as far as Japan and Korea.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /> It is widespread in Britain and Ireland although it is absent from the Orkney and Shetland and very rare in the Western Isles.<ref name=BSBI/>
==Habitat== ''Carex vesicaria'' grows in damp habitats, mostly in mesotrophic soils which are slightly basic, in areas where the water table is at or above the soil surface. It grows along edge of many types of waterbodies, as well as damp depressions in pastures and in wet woodlands. It can also colonise wet areas Where pits have been created for extraction of aggregates such as sand, gravel, or clay.
In Britain it has an altitude range of {{cvt|0-455|m|ft}} with the highest plants being found at Llyn Gorast in Cardiganshire.<ref name=OABF/>
==Uses== thumb|Harvesting ''sennegrass'' ''Carex vesicaria'' was cultivated in North America by indigenous people as its rhizomes were used for basketry,<ref name=wildflower>{{cite web |url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CAVE6 |title=Carex vesicaria |access-date=22 March 2020 |work=Plant Database |publisher=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center}}</ref> The dried fibres, were sometimes used as thermal insulation in footwear in polar regions, are known as '''sennegrass''', '''saennegrass''' or similar, from the plant's Bokmål name '''''sennegras'''''.<ref name=TAD>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upcoFJXWT38C&q=Carex+vesicaria+insulation&pg=PA308 |access-date=22 March 2020 |title=The Antarctic Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Antarctic English |author=Bernadette Hince |publisher=Csiro Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=0-643-10232-9}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=BSBI>{{cite web |url=http://sppaccounts.bsbi.org/content/carex-vesicaria-0.html |title=Carex vesicaria |access-date=22 March 2020 |publisher=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland}}</ref> <ref name=Calscape>{{cite web |url=https://calscape.org/Carex-vesicaria-() |title=Blister Sedge ''Carex vesicaria'' |access-date=2 March 2020 |publisher=California Native Plant Society}}</ref> <ref name=ipni>{{cite web |title=''Carex vesicaria'' L. |url=http://ipni.org/n/302885-1 |website=ipni.org |publisher=International Plant Names Index |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref>
<ref name=naturespot>{{cite web |url=https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/bladder-sedge |title=Bladder sedge |access-date=22 March 2020 |publisher=Naturespot Recording the Wildlife of Leicestershire and Rutland}}</ref> <ref name=OABF>{{cite web| url=https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/carex-vesicaria |title=Carex vesicaria |work=Online Atlas of British and Irish Flora |access-date=22 March 2020 |publisher=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland}}</ref> <ref name=powo>{{cite web |title=''Carex vesicaria'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:302885-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref> <ref name=vascan>{{cite web |vauthors=Brouillet L, Desmet P, Coursol F, Meades SJ, Favreau M, Anions M, Bélisle P, Gendreau C, Shorthouse D, etal |date=2010 |title=''Carex vesicaria'' Linnaeus |url=https://data.canadensys.net/vascan/taxon/5136 |website=Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN) |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref> }}
==External links== *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?7928,7931,8076 Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Carex vesicaria''] *[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Carex+vesicaria ''Carex vesicaria'' - Photo gallery at Calphotos]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q157765}}
vesicaria Category:Flora of Asia Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of Northern America Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus