California Invasive Plant Council

Carex pendula

Common names: hanging sedge

Carex pendula (hanging sedge) is a sedge (family Cyperaceae) that can grow to be more than 6 feet tall and is found in the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento Valley in California. It has red-brown to purple tips. It is native to Europe. It spreads via rhizomes and seeds. One plant can produce 20,000 seeds with a 90% germination rate. It favors forest and riparian and bottomland habitat.

Cal-IPC Rating: Watch

CDFA Rating: None?

Explanation of CDFA ratings

• A – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and is either not known to be established in California or it is present in a limited distribution that allows for the possibility of eradication or successful containment.
• B – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and, if present in California, it is of limited distribution.
• C – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and, if present in California, it is usually widespread.
• D – An organism known to be of little or no economic or environmental detriment, to have an extremely low likelihood of weediness, or is known to be a parasite or predator.
• Q – An organism or disorder suspected to be of economic or environmental detriment, but whose status is uncertain because of incomplete identification or inadequate information.
• * – An asterisk next to the rating indicates that a plant is included in the CCR Section 4500 list of California State Noxious Weeds.
• -* – This plant is included in the CCR Section 4500 list of California State Noxious Weeds, but is otherwise not rated.

More details

Assessment(s)

Plant Risk Assessment - An evaluation of the potential for a plant to be invasive in California.

Species ID Card

Invasive Species ID Card - To support field identification of early detection species, Cal-IPC has designed a set of Species ID cards that can be downloaded, printed double-sided, and trimmed to size.

Weed Management Notes

Cal-IPC Newsletter Articles

• One Tam unites around Marin’s mountain. Kesel, Rachel. Vol 24, Issue 3
• It takes a village… to get rid of an invasive!. Bikle, Betsy Wanner. Vol 22, Issue 2
• Carex pendula... and yelling at the ocean. Williams, Andrea. Vol 22, Issue 2

Cal-IPC Symposium Presentations

Presentations are linked where available. Where a presentation is not available, find more information by reading the abstract in the Cal-IPC Symposia Archive.

• Challenges and lessons learned in the Muir Beach wetland restoration project. LeBeau, Naomi (2020)

Other Carex pendula Information

• CalPhotos - Images of plants taken mostly in California.
• Calflora - Distribution map and records of this species in California.
• CalWeedMapper - Distribution map of this species in California with ability to determine regional priorities.
• EDDMapS - Distribution of this species in North America.
• Jepson Interchange - Information on this plant's taxonomy, biology, and distribution from UC Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.
• USDA PLANTS Database - Information on identification and distribution, with links to websites in individual states.

Additional photos