Carex serratodens

Saw-toothed sedge, Saw-Toothed Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Saw-toothed sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern Coast Ranges in moist places at elevations below 1,800 meters. Forming dense tufted clusters with stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall, this sedge has narrow leaf blades 1.7 to 4 millimeters wide. Its distinctive pistillate flower bracts are dark purple with a pale midrib, featuring delicate hairy awns that add texture to the terminal spikelet. The leaves are characteristically basal and minute, with the plant producing distinctive fruit 1.8 to 2.5 millimeters long, surrounded by green perigynia spotted with purple. The perigynia are wide-elliptic to ovate, with a short purple-tinged beak and minute hairs, creating a complex and intricate botanical structure.

Habitat: Moist places

Elevation: < 1800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRH, SN, SnFrB, SCoR

California counties: Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, Tehama, Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Humboldt, Marin, Mariposa, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, San Bernardino, Colusa, Nevada, Stanislaus, Kern, Glenn, Butte, Alameda, El Dorado, Fresno, Calaveras, San Benito, Merced, Santa Cruz, Solano, Mono, Plumas, Placer

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