Bromus sitchensis var. sitchensis

Sitka brome, alaska brome

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sitka brome is a California native perennial grass found in northern coastal and northwestern California regions on rocky bluffs, meadows, forest edges, and disturbed areas at elevations below 1,670 meters. Flowering from March to June, this grass produces delicate, open branching inflorescences with spikelets 25 to 41 millimeters long. Growing with robust stems 40 to 145 centimeters tall, it develops ascending to spreading branches that arch and nod gracefully. Its leaves feature broad blades 5 to 12 millimeters wide, with smooth or occasionally hairy surfaces and distinctive ligules 3 to 4 millimeters long. The grass produces lemmas with slender awns 5 to 10 millimeters in length, giving the plant an elegant, feathery appearance.

Habitat: Rocky bluffs, cliffs, meadows, forest edges, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1670 m

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