Carex aquatilis

Water sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Water sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in wet meadows, streambanks, and alpine areas throughout the northern Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, and Modoc Plateau at elevations from 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this sedge produces pale green to white flowers in open, leaf-like inflorescences with white-tipped bracts. Growing in dense clumps with slender, slightly curved stems 20 to 80 centimeters tall, it forms extensive patches in moist environments. Its leaves are narrow, bright green, and grass-like, typically 3 to 6 millimeters wide, with prominent veins and a soft, flexible texture. The fruit is small, shiny, and nearly spherical, with a barely perceptible notched beak.

California counties: Inyo, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Nevada, Siskiyou, Shasta, Mariposa, Tulare, Yuba, Butte, Tuolumne, Humboldt, Madera, Sierra, Napa, Tehama, Del Norte, Trinity, San Mateo, Alpine

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