Valley Sedge, Carex barbarae

About Valley Sedge (Carex barbarae) 35 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Carex barbarae is a species in the Cyperaceae (Sedge) family known by the common names Valley Sedge and Santa Barbara Sedge. Despite its common name it is not limited to the Santa Barbara area and is native to a large part of California and Oregon, where it grows in wet and seasonally wet habitat, such as meadows and riverbanks. This sedge produces angled, hairless stems up to one meter tall or slightly taller. The tough leaves are narrow with shredding, red-spotted or purple basal sheaths. The flower cluster produces erect and drooping spikes up to about 8 centimeters long with an associated long leaf which exceeds the length of the spikes. The fruits are covered in a sac called a perigynium which is light to dark brown and sometimes red-spotted, leathery and tough, and sometimes with a toothed, hairy tip. The plant rarely matures into a fruiting stage, however, with most individuals remaining sterile. Parts of this sedge were used in basketry and as sewing fiber by California Native American groups such as the Maidu and Pomo. Use caution in deciding where to use this plant because it can be an aggressive spreader wherever there is moisture. Its tendency to spread can be controlled by planting in a container. It is useful on the margin of a pond or in a bioswale.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Grasses

Size

1.6 - 3.3 ft tall
3 ft wide

Form

Fountain

Growth Rate

Fast

Dormancy

Evergreen

Fragrance

None

Flower Color

Cream, Purple, Red

Flowering Season

Summer

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 9 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Umber Skipper Poanes melanePoanes melane

Common Ringlet Coenonympha tulliaCoenonympha tullia

Dun Skipper Euphyes vestrisEuphyes vestris

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

American Ear Moth Amphipoea americanaAmphipoea americana

Mountain Beauty Moth Syngrapha igneaSyngrapha ignea

Olive Green Cutworm Moth Dargida procinctusDargida procinctus

Landscaping Information

Sun

Part Shade

Moisture

Low, Moderate - High

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / week once established

Nurseries

Carried by 35

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 15° F

Soil Drainage

Slow

Soil Description

Tolerates a variety of soils. Soil PH: 5.5 - 8.0

Common uses

Bogs and Ponds, Deer Resistant

Companion Plants

Use with other wetland and bog plants such as Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica), Brodiaea sp., Flatsedge (Cyperus sp.), Spikerush (Eleocharis sp.), Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantea), Coast Gumweed (Grindelia stricta), Juncus sp., Iris sp., Monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis or guttatus), Hedge Nettle (Stachys sp.), Vervain (Verbena lasiostachys), and Willow (Salix sp.)

Sunset Zones?

4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8*, 9*, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Seasonally wet places

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 9.7" - 69.1", Summer Precipitation: 0.16" - 3.17", Coldest Month: 21.2" - 55.7", Hottest Month: 52.3" - 80.3", Humidity: 0.01" - 27.76", Elevation: -253" - 9055"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Santa Barbara Sedge

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Valley Sedge

Carex barbarae

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Valley SedgeCarex barbarae

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Valley Sedge

Carex barbarae