Carex viridula subsp. viridula

Green yellow sedge, Green Yellow Sedge

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Green yellow sedge is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges, Klamath Ranges, and central Sierra Nevada at elevations below 1,800 meters, growing in Sphagnum bogs, wet meadows, dune swales, lakeshores, and serpentine fens. Flowering in summer months, this sedge produces small green and red-centered flowers in dense linear clusters. Growing in tufted clumps with stems 5 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms compact bunches in wet, marshy environments. Its narrow leaves are approximately 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide, with ascending blades characteristic of wetland sedge species. The fruit is yellow-green to brown, with a distinctive narrow-conic beak 0.6 to 1.2 millimeters long and a crowded, spreading perigynia.

Habitat: Sphagnum bogs, wet meadows, dune swales, lakeshores, serpentine fens

Elevation: < 1800 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, c SNH (1 site)

California counties: Siskiyou, Humboldt, 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.