Bottle Sedge

Carex rostrata

Bottle Sedge is one of over a hundred sedge species found in Scandinavia. Sedge is a family of grass-like species called Cyperaceae. You can distinguish sedge from other grass species by its stalks, which are not round but triangular in cross section, and when pulling the fingers along a stalk, no “bumps” can be felt.

Most sedge species grow on wetlands. Bottle Sedge is one of the most common, and is found all over Sweden, including the mountains. In the mountains there is also a particularly tall-growing form of Bottle Sedge which can even grow in water.

In the past, dried sedge hay was used instead of socks in shoes. It insulates and warms, and is easy to dry. Shoe hay from sedge was first prepared and made among the Sámi communities, and later on farms in the north. To provide enough shoe hay for autumn and winter, large quantities needed to be harvested.