''Carex abrupta'' is a species of

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

known by the common name abrupt-beaked sedge or abruptbeak sedge. It is native to the western United States from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, where it grows in moist mountain habitat such as meadows.

Description

This sedge forms a dense, erect clump exceeding 20 centimeters in height. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a rounded cluster of spikes 1 to 2 centimeters wide. Each fruit is surrounded by a sac called a perigynium which is boat-shaped to scoop-shaped with a very narrow, cylindrical beak coppery red to dark brown in color.

External links

Calflora: ''Carex abrupta'' (Abrupt beaked sedge)Jepson Manual (TJM2) treatment of ''Carex abrupta''Flora of North America''Carex abrupta'' - Photo gallery
abrupta Flora of California Flora of Idaho Flora of Nevada Flora of Oregon Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Plants described in 1917 Taxa named by Kenneth Kent Mackenzie Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Carex-stub