Bothriochloa barbinodis

Cane bluestem, Cane Bluestem

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Cane bluestem is a California native perennial grass found in southern California, the southern Channel Islands, western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, desert mountains, and Colorado Desert in dry, gravelly slopes at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from February to September, this grass produces tan to pale brown flowering branches in clustered inflorescences 7 to 14 centimeters long. Growing in dense clumps with stems 60 to 120 centimeters tall, it forms extensive grass communities in arid landscapes. Its leaves are both basal and stem-based, with blade-like leaves reaching 20 to 30 centimeters in length, characterized by a wide membranous groove along the stem. The grass produces distinctive stalked and sessile spikelets, with lower spikelets featuring awns 2 to 3 centimeters long.

Habitat: Dry, gravelly slopes

Bloom period: Feb-Sep

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: SCo, s ChI, WTR, SnGb, PR, DMtns, DSon

California counties: Ventura, San Bernardino, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Alameda, San Luis Obispo, Kern

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.