Carex stipata, variously called the prickly sedge, awl-fruited sedge, awlfruit sedge, owlfruit sedge, swamp sedge, sawbeak sedge, stalk-grain sedge and common fox sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Carex, native to Canada, the United States, China, Korea, Japan, and Far Eastern Russia.

[6] Carex stipata is a tuft-forming, grass-like plant, reaching 2 to 3 ft. in height.

Leaves are coarse and elongate.

The inflorescence is a spike, with a cluster of brown seed capsules high on each stem.

[7] Carex stipata favours wetland conditions, such as woodland swales, floodplains, marshes, water meadows, ditches and the area around streams and ponds.