The data in the following table is from Collins Pocket Guide to The Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe by R.Fitter, A.Fitter and A. Farrer (ISBN 0 00 219136 9) first published :-

A Habitat Table with its Wild Sedge Plants:-

Plants with long narrow grass-like leaves, either borne on a stem or in a tussock, sometimes of great size. These may be sedges, which typically have triangular stems (a few are rounded), channeled leaves which only rarely form a loose sheath around the stem, and flowers in spikelets. They typically grow on dry or very wet soils, but not on the more fertile; almost all are perennials.

The following Sedges are further described and linked to the
Sedge Rush-like Family Page
Sedges Carex Family Page 1
Sedges Carex Family Page 2
Sedges Carex Family Page 3 or
Sedges Carex Family Page 4.
 

Alpine Sedge (Syn. Close-headed Alpine Sedge) in wet, stony slopes, ledges and turf over basic rock and with base-rich run-off.

False Sedge in stony flushes, base-rich mires and wet, grassy or sedge-rich turf on limestone or calcareous mica-schist.
Breckland Spring Sedge (Rare Spring-sedge) is restricted to dry, grazed grasslands; it occurs on infertile calcareous soils overlying limestone, chalk or chalky boulder-clay. It is a poor competitor and soon disappears if under-grazing allows the sward to become too rank.
Common Sedge in fens, fen-meadows, bogs, streamsides and flushes, wet grassland and dune-slacks.
Downy-Fruited Sedge in damp meadows, but is also found in dry grassland, grassy woodland rides and along roadsides.
Dwarf Sedge on closely-grazed, calcareous grassland, especially on steep slopes on chalk downland. Over limestone it also occurs locally in grazed pastures as well as on field margins, track-sides and rock outcrops.

Bog-Rush is a tussock-forming perennial of calcareous and other base-rich fens (especially near springs), and of peaty flushes, marshes, bogs, dune-slacks, sea-cliff flushes, and the upper fringes of saltmarshes where there is base-rich flushing.
Broad-leaved Cotton-Grass in wet, base-rich lowland meadows and mires, and in fens and calcareous flushes in the uplands.
Common Cotton-Grass is often growing in standing water. Its habitats range from upland blanket bogs and hillside flushes to wet heaths and marshy meadows in the lowlands.
Flat-Headed Sedge (Flat-sedge) is in open areas in marshes and fens, and in short, sedge-rich, damp grassland, calcareous flushes and stream borders which are subject to flooding.
Arisaig Sedge (Club Sedge) in mesotrophic fens on or near the margins of lakes, often bordering outflow streams, and always in areas which are periodically inundated.
Brown Sedge is found in wet meadows and marshes, fens, by ditches and streams, on the margins of lakes and ponds, and occasionally in dune-slacks.

Slender Cotton-Grass in the wettest parts of bogs, transitional mires, poor fens and on the edge of Alnus carr, typically over liquid peats.
Altnaharra Sedge (String Sedge) is found in fens and base-poor mires, where it usually grows in standing water.

Drooping Sedge (Syn. Pendulous Sedge) in deciduous woodland, by ditches, ponds, streams, in hedgerows and on track-sides.

Bulrush is in standing or flowing fresh water. Substrates include silt, clay, peat or gravel. It occurs in ponds, lakes, canals, dykes and slow moving rivers, usually in water 0.3-1.5 m deep.
Druce Bulrush in the Rivers Medway, Arun and Tamar

Breadalbane Sedge (Bristle Sedge) is from base-rich flushes on gently sloping or `stepped` ground on micaceous silt or gravel.

Greater Fox Sedge.
True Fox Sedge.
Black Cyperus is an annual of moist, open disturbed ground around the margins of ponds and by ditches, often on ground subject to winter-flooding.
Common Spike-Rush is found on the margins of ponds, lakes, slow-flowing rivers and streams, in fens, marshes, swamps and wet meadows, and in ditches, dune-slacks and saltmarshes.
Needle Spike-Rush on the margins of lakes, ponds, reservoirs and rivers, in sites subject to winter flooding, and fully aquatic in shallow, still or slow-moving mesotrophic to eutrophic water.
Sedge (Syn. Great Fen Sedge) is usually growing on peat. It is found in swamps at the margins of lakes and ponds and along streams, and in tall-herb fens and open fen carr. In England and Wales it is largely restricted to calcareous sites, whereas in the Hebrides and Western Ireland it also occurs in acidic areas.

Wood Club-Rush in swampy valley woodlands and similar shady places; also in wet pastures bordering woods and streams, and on the margins of rivers, streams, lakes and ponds.

Bladder Sedge in wet habitats, mainly mesotrophic and at least slightly basic, occurring where the water table lies close to or above the soil surface. It is found by lakes, rivers, streams, ponds and canals, in marshes and swamps, ditches, wet meadows and depressions in pasture, and in wet woodland.

Bristle Club-Rush on sandy or gravelly tracks, on the shores of lakes or ponds, in short grassland, on eroding stream-sides

Brown Beak-Sedge of wet heaths, and the margins of acidic mires.
Deer-Grass on peaty moors and bogs over acidic soils, persisting even in burnt and heavily deer-grazed areas.
Harestail (Syn. Harestail Cotton-Grass) on wet heaths and mires, including blanket- and raised bogs.
Many-Stalked Spike-Rush in acid bogs, wet heath, valley mires, pools and wet hollows over peat, and at the edge of acidic lakes; also occurring in coastal dune-slacks.
White Beak-Sedge in acidic bogs, wet heaths and mires, often in association with Sphagnum species.
Bog Sedge in Sphagnum mires and the wet, peaty margins of pools, often growing in standing water.

Carnation Sedge in marshy grassland, hay- and water-meadows, mires, sea-cliff grassland, heaths and flushes in montane grassland; also, in Northern and Western Britain and Ireland, in the uppermost parts of saltmarshes.

Floating Spike-Rush (Floating Club-rush) on peaty, acidic substrates in, or on the margins of, slow-flowing streams, ditches, pools and the sheltered shores of some larger lakes and tarns, often in seasonally flooded sites.
Bottle Sedge on the edges of lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, in ditches, swamps, fens and bog pools, wet meadows, flush-bogs on hillsides, sea-cliff flushes, wet dune-slacks
Common Yellow Sedge grows on wet ground on soils ranging from acidic to neutral or occasionally mildly alkaline. It is found in a wide variety of open habitats, including sandy shores, tracks, streamsides, wet fields and heathland, the margins of ponds and lakes, wet rocky hillsides, flushes and seepage areas.
Dwarf Yellow Sedge (Small-fruited Yellow-sedge) in Sand (local in wet open sandy and gravelly situations)

Few-Flowered Spike-Rush in base-rich marshes and fens, calcareous flushes on peaty soils, stony and muddy areas with seeping water, wet paths and short turf on banks; also in coastal cliff-flushes, dune-slacks and in the upper parts of saltmarshes.
Distant Sedge found on sea-cliffs, rocky shores, in coastal grasslands and the uppermost parts of saltmarshes

Bog-Rush is a tussock-forming perennial of calcareous and other base-rich fens (especially near springs), and of peaty flushes, marshes, bogs, dune-slacks, sea-cliff flushes, and the upper fringes of saltmarshes where there is base-rich flushing.
Galingale is of marshes and wet pastures near the coast, and sometimes in base-rich flushes on sea-cliffs. It also occurs on pond margins and in ditches inland, where it is usually planted.
Dotted Sedge on sheltered rock ledges and clefts on sea-cliffs. It is also found on wet sandy patches in saltmarshes, and amongst rocks or on sand where streams debouch onto the shore.

Divided Sedge of brackish ditches, dune-slacks and damp grasslands near the sea.

Chestnut Sedge is found in sandy or gravelly wet runnels and depressions in saltmarshes, and in brackish ditches and dune-slacks.
Common Spike-Rush is found on the margins of ponds, lakes, slow-flowing rivers and streams, in fens, marshes, swamps and wet meadows, and in ditches, dune-slacks and saltmarshes.
Slender Spike-Rush (Onescale Spikerush) in damp dune-slacks, saltmarshes, short, brackish grassland and pools in the spray zone. It also occurs inland in base-rich, wet meadows and calcareous marshes.

Clustered Club-Rush occurs in damp dune-slacks and on adjacent low dunes
Greyish Bulrush (Grey Club-rush) in brackish water in rivers, dykes, tidal channels, lagoons and dune-slacks; also in depressions in saltmarsh and in wet pasture. Inland, it occurs by lakes, ponds, slow-flowing rivers, streams and canals, and in flooded quarries and pits.
Sharp Bulrush (Sharp Club-rush) in the margin of a coastal Saint Ouen's Pond in Jersey, and from a wet, coastal dune-slack near Ainsdale
Curved Sedge in damp dune-slacks and on open sand, often close to freshwater seepages or where streams debouch onto the shore.

Sea Club-Rush in saline ground or in shallow brackish water, usually rooted in mud but sometimes in gravel and shingle. Coastal habitats include saltmarshes, tidal river banks, creeks, ditches, lakes, ponds, borrow-pits, and also marshes and damp pastures.

Small Bristle Club-Rush (Slender Club-rush) in wet, coastal grassland, in bare or open sites over damp sand, peat and mud, in short turf and sometimes in flushes and trickles on rocky cliffs.

Triangular Bulrush (Triangular Club-rush) occurs on mud-banks along the lower reaches of tidal rivers, where it may become submerged at the highest tides

Estuarine Spike-Rush (Dwarf Spike-rush) on firm estuarine mud by tidal rivers, and in tidal pans in brackish grazing marshes.

Acid Soils have few basic minerals such as calcium and magnesium and are typically formed on rocks such as sandstones and granites.

Annual plants live for a year or less.

Base-rich or basic soils have large amounts of basic minerals (mainly calcium) and so are only slightly acid, neutral or alkaline.

Bogs occur on wet, more or less acid peat, and are often dominated by sphagnum mosses and sedges.

Calcareous soils are formed over chalk and limestone, and so are extremely base -rich. They are never more than slightly acid at the surface, and typically have a rich flora.

Casual plants appear only irregularly and are not native to the area.

Cones in horsetails and clubmosses are the fertile, spore-bearing region, more or less clearly differentiated from the stem.

Dunes are areas of wind-blown, usually calcareous shell-sand near the sea, with areas of damp ground termed 'slacks' in between.

Fens occur on base-rich peat, in contrast to bogs which are acid; the source of the bases is always infiltrating water from the surrounding land, since peat has no mineral reserves. Poor fens are nutrient-poor or acid, changing to bogs.

Foreshore is both
the area of a shore that lies between the average high tide mark and the average low tide mark and
the part of a shore between the water and occupied or cultivated land.

Heaths are dry, heather- or gorse-dominated areas in lowland regions, with rather acid soils. Wet heaths lie between bogs and heaths.

Margin is edge.

Marshes are wet habitats on mineral soils, though often with a thin layer of peat.

Moors are the upland counterpart of heaths and are typically dominated by heather, though bilberry, grasses or mosses may be important components.

Peat is a soil wholly composed of the un- or partially decomposed remains of plants which once grew on the site. It typically occurs in waterlogged conditions in which decomposition is very slow. Peats are found in fens and bogs.

Perennials are plants that survive for more than a single growing season.

Rhizomes are underground stems, from which shoots arise, sometimes swollen with stored food. They may be horizontal and far-creeping, short, or even upright.

Slack is a damp area in a sand-dune system.

Waste places are areas much disturbed by man, but not cultivated.

Wintergreen is a plant that remains green through the winter.