Carex subbracteata

Small-bracted sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Small-bracted sedge is a California native perennial sedge found in coastal and western regions including Northern Coast, Central Western California, Southern California, and northern Channel Islands in grasslands and open forests at elevations below 900 meters. Flowering in spring, this sedge produces brown to reddish-coppery flower bracts with green centers. Growing with often leaning stems and fine leaf blades 1.3 to 4.6 millimeters wide, it forms dense, erect inflorescences 13 to 35 millimeters long. Its leaves have white membranous sheaths with a distinctive strip extending more than 10 millimeters below the top. The fruit is small, ovate, and leathery, typically gold with a brown margin, ranging 1.5 to 2.1 millimeters long.

Habitat: At least seasonally moist soil, grassland to open forest

Elevation: < 900 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, CW, SCo, n ChI, WTR

California counties: Humboldt, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Napa, Alameda, Mendocino, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Siskiyou, Tulare, Monterey, Butte

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