Carex pachystachya

Starry broomsedge, Starry Broomsedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Starry broomsedge is a California native perennial sedge found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, Central Coast, and Warner Mountains in dry to wet meadows, shores, and open forests at elevations of 900 to 3,500 meters. Its flowering period cannot be determined from the provided data. Growing with fine stems forming dense tufts, this sedge produces inflorescences 9 to 28 millimeters long with multiple spikelets. Its leaves are narrow, 1.2 to 6.5 millimeters wide, with short ligules less than 2.5 millimeters long. The fruit is small and distinctive, with ovate perigynia 1.4 to 1.9 millimeters long, ranging in color from gold to brown or coppery to nearly black, with a shiny surface and a delicate marginal wing.

Habitat: dry to wet meadows, shores, open forest

Elevation: (75)900-3500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaR, n SNH, ScV, CCo, Wrn

California counties: Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tuolumne, Sonoma, El Dorado, Plumas, Shasta, Glenn, Del Norte, Lassen, Modoc, Santa Cruz, Tehama, Mendocino, Nevada, Butte, Placer, Colusa, Fresno, Alameda, Lake, Monterey, San Francisco, Alpine, Calaveras, Marin, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Mariposa, Madera, Sierra, Tulare, Sacramento

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