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Carex multicostata 



I. SPECIES INFORMATION 



A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC NAME: Carex multicostata Hook. 



2. COMMON NAME: Many-ribbed sedge 



3. FAMILY: Cyperaceae (Sedge family) 



4. GENUS: According to Hermann (1970), there are at 

 least 600 species of Carex in North America. in 

 the Rocky Mountain region there are 165 species, 

 making it the most diverse montane region for 

 sedges. Differences among species are often small, 

 and the group is not well understood by range 

 ecologists (Hermann 1970) . 



5. SPECIES: Carex multicostata is a western species 

 of dry meadows and open woods in the mountains; it 

 is more common in Oregon and California, but occurs 

 east to Montana and north to Washington (Hermann 

 1970) . 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Carex 

 multicostata is not currently listed in the 

 U.S.F.W.S. Notice of Review (U.S. Department 

 of Interior 1985) . 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Carex multicostata is 

 currently included on the Watch List for 

 Region 1 (Northern Region) of the U.S. Forest 

 Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1988) . 



2. STATE: Carex multicostata is currently listed by 

 the Montana Natural Heritage Program (Shelly 1989) 

 as "critically imperiled in the state" (state rank 

 = SI) . It is also included on the list of vascular 

 plants of rare status by the Montana Rare Plant 

 Project (Lesica et al. 1984) , indicating that it is 

 either "limited to a resticted geographic range" or 

 "occurs sparsely over a wider area in Montana." 

 These state ranks do not currently provide any 

 direct legal protection for Carex multicostata . 



