Carex aquatilis var. aquatilis

Water sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Water sedge is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California High Sierra, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, Warner Mountains, and White and Inyo Mountains in wet places at elevations below 3,200 meters. With subtle seasonal flowering, this sedge produces pale spikelets with lateral clusters 3 to 7 millimeters wide. Growing in clustered clumps with delicate stems, it forms dense ground-covering patches in moist habitats. Its distinctive leaf blades are 3 to 8 millimeters wide, with reddish-dotted or white sheaths and pale brown leaf margins. The fruit is characterized by slightly red-dotted or blotched perigynia measuring 2 to 3.6 millimeters long.

Habitat: Wet places

Elevation: < 3200 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRH, SNH, SnBr, Wrn, W&ampI

California counties: Mono, Modoc, San Bernardino, Alpine, Inyo, Siskiyou, Nevada, Butte, Placer, Lassen, El Dorado

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