Carex douglasii

Douglas' sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Douglas' sedge is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California, Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, southern Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Desert Mountains (Cottonwood Mountains) in sandy, gravelly, or alkaline relatively dry areas at elevations of 300 to 3,800 meters. Its dense inflorescences feature pale brown to white flower bracts with distinctive pistillate flowers. Growing with a slender brown rhizome and thick leaf blades 1 to 3.5 millimeters wide that are often folded or inrolled at the margins, the sedge forms compact clumps. Its leaves have a thick rim at the sheath mouth and create a dense, structured growth habit. The fruit is gold to brown, with a narrow white-margined beak and appressed perigynia that are intricately many-veined.

Habitat: Sandy, gravelly, or alkaline +- dry areas

Elevation: 300-3800 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, SNH, SnJV, SCoR, TR, PR, GB, DMtns (Cottonwood Mtns)

California counties: Los Angeles, Alpine, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, Riverside, Shasta, Santa Barbara, Amador, Sutter, Tuolumne, San Benito, Ventura, Mariposa, Placer, Sierra, Madera, Siskiyou

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