Carex mariposana

Mariposa sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mariposa sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in the North Coast Ranges, Cascade Ranges, Sierra Nevada High, and San Bernardino Mountains in meadows, swales, riparian shores, and thickets at elevations of 750 to 3,600 meters. Its inflorescences are oblong to elliptic, 14 to 48 millimeters long, with distinct lowest spikelets that have gold, brown, or red-brown flower bracts. Growing with narrow leaf blades 1.5 to 4 millimeters wide, the sedge forms compact clusters with distinctive coloration. Its leaves feature short ligules less than 3 millimeters long, and the plant produces perigynia that are lance-ovate, planoconvex, and colored green, gold, or coppery. The fruit is small, approximately 1.5 to 2 millimeters long, with a dark brown to red-brown cylindric beak.

Habitat: Meadows, swales, riparian shores, thickets

Elevation: 750-3600 m

Bioregions: NCoR, CaRH, SNH, SnBr

California counties: Mendocino, Tulare, Mono, El Dorado, San Bernardino, Siskiyou, Trinity, Alpine, Fresno, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Amador, Placer, Nevada, Plumas, Madera, Riverside, Lake, Lassen, Kern, Yuba, Shasta, Los Angeles, Butte, Sierra, Humboldt, Del Norte, Modoc, Inyo

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