A tough sedge of the dry alpine steppe and one of the main plants of the Changtang grasslands.
- Group: Plant
- Plant type: Grass and sedge
- Habitats: Alpine steppe, lakesides
- Regions: Ü Tsang, Kham, Amdo
Habitat and distribution
Alpine meadows, grassland, lakesides and high plateaus at 3,400–5,700 m (Flora of China).
Recorded in Ü-Tsang, Kham, Amdo.
Ecological and cultural significance
Together with the needle-grass Stipa purpurea it forms one of the main alpine-steppe plant communities of the western plateau (Ma and Sun 2018), pasture for wild and domestic grazers.
Threats
Studies of the Stipa–Carex steppe report that climate change is fragmenting these communities (Ma and Sun 2018).
Conservation
Not assessed by the IUCN Red List (no assessment found).