Carex integra

Smooth-beaked sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Smooth-beaked sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and Warner Mountains in seasonally moist soils at elevations of 1,000 to 3,400 meters. Its inflorescence features gold to brown spikelets with distinct coloration, appearing in dense clusters 15 to 30 millimeters long. Growing with fine, delicate stems, this sedge produces narrow leaves approximately 1 to 2 millimeters wide. Its leaves have short ligules measuring 0.5 to 2.5 millimeters long, with pistillate flower bracts that are gold to dark brown with white to green centers. The fruit is small and compact, with straw-colored to light brown perigynia that are lance-ovate and slightly constricted near the base when dry.

Habitat: Seasonally moist soil

Elevation: 1000-3400 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnBr, Wrn

California counties: Butte, San Bernardino, Tehama, Siskiyou, Glenn, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Tulare, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Fresno, Modoc, Madera, Shasta, Alpine, Sierra, Trinity, Inyo, Humboldt, Calaveras, Mariposa, Lassen, Mendocino

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