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Rare Species Guide
Carex conoidea Schkuhr ex Willd. | Katahdin Sedge |
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SynonymsCarex katahdinensis Basis for Former ListingCarex katahdinensis (katahdin sedge) was proposed as state endangered in 1984 because it was known by only a few herbarium specimens collected in the Border Lakes Region of northern St. Louis County; the most recent collection was dated 1954. The proposal was unsuccessful because it was not certain the species still survived in the state. Between 1984 and 1996, C. katahdinensis was rediscovered and threats to its survival assessed. We now know that it occurs primarily on sandy and gravelly lakeshores in or near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Despite the wilderness status of the area, recreational use of these lakeshores is high. It was determined reasonable and necessary to list the species as state threatened in 1996 because of the combination of its extreme rarity and potential threats from recreational use Basis for DelistingSince its listing in 1996, subsequent research has indicated that C. katahdinensis may be a dwarf race of the more widespread prairie sedge C. conoidea (field sedge) (Ball and Reznicek 2002). It appears that C. katahdinensis has some level of genetic and ecological uniqueness, though it is no longer appropriate to consider it a separate species. Carex katahdinensis was delisted in 2013. Authors/RevisionsWelby R. Smith (MNDNR) 2018 (Note: all content ©MNDNR) |