Carex spectabilis

Showy sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Showy sedge is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range high elevation areas, and Sierra Nevada Mountains in wet places at elevations of 1,800 to 3,700 meters. Its inflorescences feature distinctive purple spikelets with dark purple pistillate flower bracts that have pale midribs. Growing in dense or loosely clustered clumps with stems 20 to 90 centimeters tall, this sedge develops narrow leaf blades 2 to 5 millimeters wide. Its leaves are primarily basal, with distinctive purple-tinted perigynia that are somewhat flattened and papillate. The fruit is small, approximately 1.6 to 2 millimeters long, with a short beak and an elliptic to obovate shape.

Habitat: Wet places

Elevation: 1800-3700 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH

California counties: Fresno, El Dorado, Madera, Tulare, Tuolumne, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, Inyo, Mariposa, Shasta, Alpine, Lassen, Del Norte, Calaveras, Humboldt, Modoc

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