Introduction to Carex of California Workshop: A One and a Half Day Workshop
Saturday and Sunday, March 14–15, 2026
Offered by the North Coast Chapter of CNPS and Cal Poly Humboldt Biology Graduate Student Association
Carex is the most speciose genus of flowering plants in California and North America, with over 80 taxa on the North Coast alone. It is also the largest genus of US Army Corps wetland indicator plants in California and the US. As well, there are more rare sedge taxa than in any other genus in Northern California. Thus, the ability to sight-recognize and key sedges is critical to conducting wetland delineations, habitat assessments, rare plant surveys, and vegetation typing, as well as implementing habitat restoration and management plans. Yet, they are notoriously difficult to key due to many challenging microscopic characteristics.
Target Audience: Professional and student botanists, consultants, regulators, ecologists, and wetland scientists. Participants should have knowledge of basic plant terminology and use of dichotomous keys such as the Jepson Manual (JM).
Participants will gain proficiency in:
- Basic sedge terminology, morphology, and ecology.
- Keying terminology and techniques using The Jepson Manual, 2nd Edition and Jepson eflora.
- Understanding challenging, weird, and unclear JM and eflora key couplets
- Sight recognition of some ecologically dominant sedges and better understanding their habitats.
- Appreciation for the beauty, diversity, complexity, and ecological value of sedges.
- A richer understanding of some of northern California’s most common and rare sedges.
Description: This is an intensive introductory/intermediate course on sedge identification and keying with an emphasis on species occurring in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The workshop starts with an introductory review of sedge taxonomy, ecology, biogeography, and essential sedge keying terminology and morphology. The rest of the workshop will be guided dissection and keying of specimens in the laboratory using a microscope and the Jepson Manual 2nd Ed. and Jepson eflora. Keying will be punctuated with guidance and commentary on keying groups and species’ characteristics. The emphasis will be on learning some of the most common and rare sedges in northern California, distinguishing similar species and species-complexes, and
Cost: $175 CNPS members; $225 non-CNPS members; Students; $35
Registration: Register Opens February 1, 2026. Register on-line at northcoastcnps.org.
Venue: Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA. Directions and additional information will be provided to registered participants about a week before the workshop.
Schedule: Saturday March 14 9:00am to 5:00pm and Sunday 9:00am -12:30pm.
About the Instructors:
Heather Davis is a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. She studies speciation events within the Silene hookeri complex. Her main interests include sedges and grasses, phylogenetics and morphometrics of California native plants. Heather has been working as a lead botanist for 4 years and is currently a teaching associate for Plant Taxonomy at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Annie Allen
Gordon Leppig is a retired Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and has been a student of sedges and wetland plants for over 30 years. He has written widely on introduced and rare plants, conservation, and aquatic habitats.