Carex densa

Dense sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Dense sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, Transverse Ranges, southern California mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in seasonally wet meadows, springs, and shoreline habitats at elevations below 1,500 meters. This sedge forms dense, clustered tufts with flowering stems that typically exceed the leaf height. Growing with leaf blades 3 to 7 millimeters wide and often featuring cross-wrinkled sheaths with red dots, the plant produces multiple dense, continuous inflorescences 1.5 to 8 centimeters long. Its leaves have distinctive characteristics, with sheath fronts that may be marked with red dots and blade surfaces showing varied textures. The fruit is ovate to diamond-shaped, with a conic beak 0.8 to 2.2 millimeters long, typically serrate or ciliate at the tip.

Habitat: At least seasonally wet meadows, springs, shores

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCoRO, SCo, WTR, SnGb, PR

California counties: Mendocino, Lassen, Alameda, Humboldt, Lake, San Mateo, Sonoma, Los Angeles, El Dorado, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Tehama, Tuolumne, Ventura, Fresno, Riverside, Kern, San Diego, Placer, Butte, Mariposa, Sutter, Trinity, Merced, Contra Costa, Amador, Madera, Modoc, Nevada, Tulare, Calaveras, Sierra, Monterey, San Benito, Del Norte, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Yuba, Sacramento, Shasta, Colusa, Santa Barbara, Inyo, San Bernardino, Solano, Glenn

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