Long-Awned Bracted Sedge (Carex gravida)

Long-Awned Bracted Sedge, like many Sedges that occur in prairies, are food sources for many insects, upland gamebirds, and songbirds. A large number of grasshopper species occasionally feed on the foliage of sedges. Other insects that feed on sedges include skipper caterpillars (Hesperiidae), and moth caterpillars. Many of these insects are important sources of food for birds. The Prairie Chicken, Wild Turkey, Ring-Necked Pheasant, native sparrows, and winter songbirds eat the seeds or seedheads of upland sedges in sunny areas (see the Bird Table for a list of these species) (illinoiswildflower.org). Long-Awned Bracted Sedge is presumed extirpated in Michigan, though data may not reflect true distribution since much of the state has not been thoroughly surveyed (mnfi.anr.msu.edu).