Carex subfusca

Rusty or pale broomsedge, Rusty Or Pale Broomsedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Rusty or pale broomsedge is a native perennial sedge found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California high country, northern Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, southern coastal ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Modoc Plateau, White and Inyo Mountains, and desert mountains in seasonally wet meadows, creeks, and seeps at elevations of 700 to 3,800 meters. Its pale green to brown inflorescences appear fine-textured and range from 11 to 30 millimeters long, with spikelets that are distinctly round or wedge-shaped at the base. Growing with slender stems, this sedge produces narrow leaf blades 1.2 to 3.7 millimeters wide. Its leaves and flower bracts display subtle color variations, with pistillate flower bracts typically white or pale brown with a green center. The fruits are small, approximately 1 to 1.6 millimeters long, with pale green to light brown perigynia that have delicate green or gold upper margins.

Habitat: Common. Seasonally wet meadows, creeks, seeps

Elevation: (75)700-3800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRH, n SNF, SNH, SnFrB, SCoRO, TR, PR, MP, W&ampI, DMtns

California counties: Mendocino, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Butte, Glenn, Lake, Monterey, Placer, Plumas, San Diego, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Trinity, Alpine, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Tulare, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Kern, Amador, Napa, Humboldt, Colusa, Madera, Calaveras, Mariposa, Marin, Santa Cruz, Yuba, Orange, San Mateo, Santa Clara

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