Description

Cespitose, herbaceous perennial to 1.8 m tall; pistillate spikelets on inflorescence hang down in a nodding habit.

General Distribution

Central Coast region of San Luis Obispo County on serpentine soils below 600 m elevation. Only known from Sycuan and McGinty Peaks in San Diego County.

Comments

This is a rare, serpentine endemic for California that extends the range of this species hundreds of miles to the south. Carex obispoensis was originally found growing on gabbro soils near the top of Sycuan Peak within the Sycuan Peak Ecological Reserve owned by the California Department of Fish & Game and subsequently discovered on McGinty Mountain as well. This is a major biogeographical disjunction for this rare plant species and more populations should be looked for on other gabbro mountains with wet areas in our county. This plant is one of 15 species in the genus found in the county.