Carex brevicaulis

Short-stemmed sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Short-stemmed sedge is a California native perennial found in the northern Coast and central Coast Ranges in coastal dunes, headlands, and rocky or sandy soil at elevations below 400 meters. Without specific flowering time data, this sedge forms dense turflike colonies with bright green, sickle-shaped leaves that are stiff and generally folded. Growing with scabrous stems 3 to 15 centimeters tall, the plant develops short rhizomes with occasionally fibrous stem bases. Its leaves are narrow, 1 to 3.5 millimeters wide, and distinctively curve like a sickle, rising above the plant's inflorescence. The plant produces pistillate spikelets with bracts tinged red-brown, which are obtuse to short-awned.

Habitat: Coastal dunes, headlands, rocky or sandy soil

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo

California counties: Marin, San Francisco, Monterey, Humboldt, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Sonoma, Del Norte, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Napa, 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.