Carex (halliana)

jtrindle USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center 3415 NE Granger Ave Corvallis, Oregon 58413 (541)757-4812 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/orpmc

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Family Scientific Name:	Cyperaceae
Family Common Name:	Sedge
Scientific Name:	Carex halliana Bailey
Common Synonym:	Carex oregonensis Olney ex Bailey
Common Name:	Hall's sedge
Species Code:	CAHA2
Ecotype:	Crater Lake National Park; 5,500 to 6,500 ft elevation
General Distribution:	Oregon, Washington, and northern California, on dry, open or thinly wooded meadows, often on pumice soils
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	seed
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Stock Type:	1-gallon containers
Time To Grow:	0
Target Specifications:	Well-developed crowns, roots and rhizomes filling soil profile in container.
Propagule Collection:	Seed heads are fairly large, with angular seeds and rather easily collected at maturity. Seed maturity was quite variable within and between sites and was collected throughout July and August. Seed heads were hand-stripped or carefully clipped and kept in paper sacks out of direct sunlight.
Propagule Processing:	The papery hulls are held tightly to the seed and must be mechanically removed with an abrasive dehuller. Seed heads were threshed with a geared-down hammermill with 1/16th inch screen, then run 2 times through a lab-scale oat dehuller. Dehulled seed was air-screened with an office clipper starting with a 1/8th " screen top and 1/20" bottom screen, moderate air flow.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Seed coat dormancy: seed must be dehulled as noted above, and then cold-moist stratified. Germination of a 1-year old seed lot sown into seedling flats and held in cold moist stratification for 68, 173, and 282 days yeilded 25%, 46% and 49% germination, repsectively. The 173 - and 282-day stratified seed emerged at 14 days, vs 22 days for the 68-day strat treatment, and seedling vigor was also increased with the longer strat times. Seed that was not dehulled had less than 1% germination regardless of length of time held in stratification.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	Seed was placed directly into Ray-leach "stubby" cones filled with Fisons' sunshine #1 soilless potting mix; or sown into 5" deep starter flats filled with Fisons' #1 and placed into a walk-in cooler for stratification (see above).
Establishment Phase:	Flats were fertilized once with Peters' 9 -45-15 starter once after seedling emergence seemed complete.
Length of Establishment Phase:	6 weeks
Active Growth Phase:	Seedlings were transplanted into Ray-Leach cone- tainers filled with Fisons Sunshine #1 soilless greenhouse mix for the first season, and moved out to a shade-house with 40% shade cloth in May when the poly greenhouse became too warm. Plants were fertilized every 2 to 3 weeks with half-strength Peters' Triple 20 N-P-K fertilizer and sprinkler irrigated as needed between fertilizations. Some leaf spot occurred transiently in the first year, but did not require treatment. In the spring of the 2nd year, the plants had filled the cones and some had new shoots developing from rhizomes that had grown down through the cones and out the drainage holes at the bottom. These were divided in April and repotted into 1-gallon ribbed containers filled with Sunshine #4 Aggregate-Plus and amended with Slow-release Osmocote and micromax micronutrients.
Length of Active Growth Phase:	April to August
Hardening Phase:	Fertilization was withheld after July, and irrigation intervals lengthened in August and September to encourage vegetative maturity.
Length of Hardening Phase:	2 months
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Plants were stored over winter in an unheated poly greenhouse. In September the 2nd year, plants in one-gallon pots were lightly watered in August and packed in waxed cardboard tree boxes and shipped to Crater Lake in a refrigerated semi. Plants arrived at Crater Lake in good shape and were held near their headquarters for a few additional weeks of acclimation prior to outplanting
Length of Storage:	see above
Other Comments:	For revegetation purposes, 1-year-old tubelings such as the Ray-Leach "stubby" conetainers are more efficient, and survival on these is also excellent. Additionally, since these plants produce robust rhizomes which can be divided and planted, it was recommended that plants be salvaged from any areas where Hall's sedge is to be disturbed / destroyed for construction projects.
References:	Corvallis Plant Materials Center Technical Report: Plants for Woodland and Rangeland Reclamation and Erosion Control 1980 - 1997 (includes Annual Reports to Mount Rainier National Park from 1990 - 1996 Flora of the Pacific Northwest, C. L. Hitchcock and A. Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 1973. USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov) National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Citation:

Flessner, Theresa R; Trindle, Joan D.C.. 2003. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Carex halliana Bailey plants 1-gallon containers; USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center Corvallis, Oregon. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/24). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.