Carex proposita

Potato chip sedge, Potato Chip Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Potato chip sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in central Sierra Nevada Mountains in rocky places at elevations of 3,000 to 4,100 meters. With narrow, distinctively folded blades typically 0.5 to 2.7 millimeters wide, this sedge forms dense, compact clusters with ovate to elliptic inflorescences 15 to 25 millimeters long. Growing with fine, delicate stems, the plant develops distinctive gold to coppery brown perigynia with green margins and subtle crinkled textures. Its leaves are tightly folded or channeled toward the base, creating a unique, compact growth form with short ligules measuring 0.9 to 2 millimeters long. The fruit is small, ranging from 1.5 to 2.1 millimeters in length, with perigynia that have 3 to 11 obvious abaxial veins.

Habitat: Uncommon. Rocky places

Elevation: 3000-4100 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH

California counties: Inyo, Fresno, Siskiyou, Tulare, Placer, Madera, Mono

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