Carex abrupta

Abrupt-beaked sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Abrupt-beaked sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Warner Mountains, White and Inyo Mountains, and Desert Mountains in meadows, open forest, and rocky slopes at elevations of 1,200 to 3,450 meters. Its inflorescence is dense and spheric to ovoid, ranging from green to brown, with spikes 10 to 22 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 18 to 66 centimeters tall without nodal branching, this sedge has distinctive leaf blades 1.5 to 3.7 millimeters wide with pale sheath faces. Its fruit is characterized by elliptic to lance-ovate perigynia that are pale to light brown, with a tapered beak 1 to 1.5 millimeters long and a distinctively unwinged tip extending more than 0.5 millimeters.

Habitat: Meadows, open forest, rocky slopes

Elevation: 1200-3450 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, TR, PR, Wrn, W&ampI, DMtns

California counties: Fresno, Mono, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Siskiyou, Tulare, Inyo, Trinity, Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Madera, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Tuolumne, San Diego, Sierra, Butte, Riverside, Amador, Sonoma, Modoc, Mariposa, Glenn, Humboldt, Mendocino, Tehama, Placer

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.