Carex unilateralis

One-sided sedge, One-Sided Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

One-sided sedge is a California native perennial found in northern coastal and northern coastal ranges of California in seasonally wet places at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering in spring and early summer, this sedge produces subtle gold to reddish-brown flower spikelets in dense clusters 10 to 25 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms compact tufts with narrow upright leaves. Its leaves are distinctively narrow, measuring 2 to 5 millimeters wide, with ligules 2.5 to 8 millimeters long that appear leaf-like and clasping the stem. The fruit develops as small perigynia 1.5 to 1.9 millimeters long, with an ascending ovate shape and delicate green to gold coloration.

Habitat: Seasonally wet places

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO

California counties: Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Lake, Mariposa

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