Carex senta

Western rough sedge, Western Rough Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western rough sedge is a native perennial sedge found in northern California Interior, Sierra Nevada, southern Sacramento Valley, central western, and southwestern California in streambanks, marshy areas, and meadows at elevations below 2,900 meters. This plant produces inflorescences with lateral spikelets 2.5 to 5 centimeters long, often featuring dark purple pistillate flower bracts. Growing with loosely clustered stems and rhizomes, it develops leaf blades 3 to 5 millimeters wide with scabrous sheath backs marked by small, raised cross-walls. Its leaves feature bladeless sheaths on the lower stem, with distinctive green perigynia often spotted or blotched with purple. The fruit measures 1.5 to 2 millimeters long, with prominent 3 to 7 veins and a dark purple-tipped beak less than half a millimeter long.

Habitat: Streambanks, marshy areas, meadows

Elevation: < 2900 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, SN, s ScV, CW, SW

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Alameda, Alpine, Fresno, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Madera, Monterey, Nevada, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sierra, Santa Barbara, Inyo, Kern, San Benito, San Diego, Ventura, El Dorado, Mariposa, Butte, Tulare, Placer, Yolo, Siskiyou, Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Yuba, Solano, Calaveras, Trinity, Mono, Amador, Napa, Sonoma, Sacramento

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