Bothriochloa laguroides subsp. torreyana

Silver bluestem, Silver Bluestem

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Silver bluestem is a naturalized perennial grass found in the central Sierra Nevada Foothills of Mariposa County, Sacramento Valley, and southern Coastal Range of Santa Barbara County on rocky slopes and disturbed areas at around 900 meters elevation. Flowering from July to November, this grass produces silvery to tan-colored inflorescences with branches extending 1 to 5 centimeters long, creating a distinctive silvery appearance. Growing in clumped formations with stems 40 to 130 centimeters tall, it spreads across disturbed landscapes with a robust, dense growth habit. Its leaves are primarily basal, with blade lengths ranging from 5 to 21 centimeters, spreading outward in a characteristic grass-like pattern. The plant's spikelet structure is particularly notable, with sessile spikelets 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters long and distinctive lemma awns measuring 7 to 16 millimeters.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jul-Nov

Elevation: +- 900 m.

Bioregions: c SNF (Mariposa Co.), ScV, SCoRO (Santa Barbara Co.)

California counties: Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Mariposa, Solano, Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Butte, Alameda, Yolo

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