Carex serpenticola

Serpentine sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Serpentine sedge is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges in dry to moist savanna, riparian areas, and spring margins on serpentine soils at elevations of 100 to 1,200 meters. This sedge produces distinctive spikelets with dark purple flower bracts edged in thin white margins, with pistillate and staminate spikes varying from 8 to 47 millimeters long. Growing in rhizomatous clumps occasionally forming dense mats, it develops weak, drooping stems with narrow leaf blades 1.5 to 3.5 millimeters wide. Its leaves have fibrous sheaths with coarse veins, featuring a ligule that is typically wider than long. The fruit is pale to brown, approximately 1.9 to 2.2 millimeters long, with plump perigynia that entirely fill their protective coverings.

Habitat: dry to moist savanna, riparian, spring margins, on serpentine

Elevation: 100-1200 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Del Norte

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