Can anybody id this grass? It seems to grow to about 20 cm. The seedheads are very dark, either black or brown (possibly varying with age). Found at ~3300m asl, along the trails in a coniferous forests in the southern rocky mountains (us). Thanks,
With heads like that probably a sedge. Look at books, maybe sites that discuss wild plants of the region. Sedges (and grasses) usually require a manual and a hand lens, will be differentiated by technical details.
Very likely Juncus mertensianus (or some say J. mertensiana). Can't say for certain, not knowing what other possibilities might exist. Photos for comparison: Juncus mertensiana Juncus mertensianus from the USDA site
Looks like it. I went with sedge because there appears to be a flat leaf on the specimen to the right of the original photo. "Sedges have edges, rushes are round."
Not that you can tell from the photo, but it is 'round'. Can either of you point me to something explaining grass/sedge/rush? Searching on the internet on these words, I can't find anything distinguishing them.
Here's a Google search for [GOOGLE]"sedges have edges"[/GOOGLE], which will find you quite a few pages on the topic.
