Isolepis cernua

Low bulrush

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Low bulrush is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, southern coastal, and San Bernardino Mountains regions in sandy sea shores, bluffs, sand dunes, creeks, and marshes at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from late spring to winter, this plant produces small, delicate flowers in clustered inflorescences. Growing 4 to 40 centimeters tall with slender, arching stems, it forms dense tufted clumps in moist habitats. Its single leaf is typically short and narrow, arising from the base of the plant. The tiny fruit is less than one millimeter long, with a distinctive two to three-sided shape and slightly convex or concave surfaces.

Habitat: Sandy, sometimes brackish sea shores, bluffs, sand dunes, creeks, marshes

Bloom period: Late spring-winter

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NCo, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, SnBr/DMtns

California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Fresno, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Ventura, San Bernardino, Butte, El Dorado, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Shasta, San Benito, Yuba, Calaveras, Sacramento

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