Straw-coloured Flatsedge

Cyperus strigosus

Pollinator Value

❄️ Winter Food Source: Seeds persist into fall and winter (Fruit/Seed Persistence=Yes). Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) consumes seeds, with Cyperus strigosus occurring in 12% of diet samples. Wetland birds including Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, and Canada Goose also eat seeds of flatsedges.
S57+S11+S10

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ✅ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Secure in Ontario (S5) but Vulnerable in Quebec (S3), where it reaches the northeastern limit of its range. Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. Globally secure (G5) with an IUCN status of Least Concern. Nationally secure in both Canada (N5) and the United States (N5). In Quebec, documented from 19 herbarium specimens concentrated in the St. Lawrence Lowlands and Ottawa River corridor.
S22+S26+S54
Rarity Ranks: QC S3 – Vulnerable, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: A perennial wetland graminoid of sandy to muddy shores, river sandbars, ditches, sedge meadows, and prairie swales. Favours sunny seasonal wetlands with a history of disturbance. In the Ottawa River valley, specimens are documented from silty alluvium on emergent limestone flats (Remic Rapids) and emergent sandbars (Kettle Island). Associates include Populus deltoides, Ludwigia palustris, Cyperus bipartitus, and Spartina pectinata.
S10+S7+S48+S61

Roles: Fire Retardant
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fire Retardant: S73 [HIGH]: S11 Fire Resistant = Yes (definitional)]

❌ Not Edible

Foraging Notes: No documented edibility. USDA rates human palatability as None. Moerman's Native American Ethnobotany Database records no food uses for this species.
S11+S28