Carex filifolia

Thread leaf sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Thread leaf sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in alpine and subalpine regions at high elevations. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces pale red-brown flowers with white or yellow-brown margins in a single terminal spikelet. Growing in dense tufts with extremely thin, quill-like leaves less than one millimeter wide, it forms compact clumps with distinctive black persistent styles. Its narrow leaves are tightly rolled, creating a delicate, thread-like appearance that gives the plant its distinctive character. The fruit is small, approximately 1.6 to 3 millimeters long, with pale white to gold perigynia that are slightly hairy just below the beak.

California counties: Tulare, Inyo, Tuolumne, Mono, Shasta, Modoc, Placer, Alpine, Nevada, Mariposa, Lassen, Fresno, 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.