Lipocarpha micrantha

Small flowered hemicarpha

Family: Cyperaceae · Type: annual · Native

Small flowered hemicarpha is a California native annual found in the North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, and Central Valley in wet soil habitats at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces small, dense spikes of flowers approximately 3 to 6 millimeters long. Growing with diminutive stems 1 to 10 centimeters tall, it forms compact clusters in moist ground. Its minute flowers feature outer bracts about 0.8 to 1 millimeter long with very short awns. The fruit is tiny, roughly 0.7 to 0.8 millimeters wide, light to dark brown with fine pitting and convex surfaces.

Habitat: Wet soil

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, SNF, GV

California counties: Ventura, Calaveras, Fresno, Lassen, Sacramento, Trinity, Tuolumne, Riverside, El Dorado, Shasta, Butte, Merced, Plumas, Madera, Tehama, Nevada, Glenn, Yuba, Humboldt, Placer, Stanislaus, San Diego, San Joaquin

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