Carex specifica

Narrow-fruited sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Narrow-fruited sedge is a California native perennial found in the high Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada Mountains in dry meadows and open forest at elevations of 1,200 to 3,500 meters. The sedge produces clusters of small spikelets, generally 4 to 14 in an elliptic inflorescence 19 to 40 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 15 to 45 centimeters tall, it features distinctive flat or slightly folded leaf blades 2 to 5 millimeters wide. Its leaves have a notable feature of firm sheaths with a thin, white membranous strip extending more than 10 millimeters below the top. The fruit is small, approximately 1.6 to 2.1 millimeters long, with perigynia that are green to gold and slightly translucent.

Habitat: dry soil, meadows, open forest

Elevation: 1200-3500 m

Bioregions: CaRH, SNH

California counties: Fresno, Mono, Alpine, Mariposa, Nevada, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo, Calaveras, El Dorado, Amador, Madera, Siskiyou, Shasta, Plumas, Tehama, Placer, Sierra, Los Angeles, Butte, Riverside, Lassen, 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.