Isolepis levynsiana

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Isolepis levynsiana is a naturalized annual found in northern coastal California including Mendocino and Sonoma counties in damp, mossy openings of coastal forest at approximately 100 meters elevation. Flowering in early spring, this diminutive plant produces tiny dull white flowers with a reddish or yellowish tint in small linear-oblong spikelets 4 to 10 millimeters long. Growing with extremely short stems just 1 to 6 centimeters tall, it forms delicate compact clusters with few leaves. Its lance-ovate flower bracts are notable for having 4 to 5 conspicuous lateral veins on each side. The tiny fruit is three-sided and finely textured, measuring less than one millimeter long.

Habitat: Damp, mossy openings in coastal forest

Bloom period: Early spring

Elevation: +- 100 m.

Bioregions: NCo (Mendocino, Sonoma cos.)

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