Cortaderia selloana

Pampas grass, Pampas Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Pampas grass is a naturalized perennial found in coastal, northern Sierra Nevada, northern Sacramento Valley, central western California, southern California, Channel Islands, and western Transverse Ranges in disturbed sites at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from September to March, this grass produces variously colored plume-like flower clusters that can reach 3 to 13 decimeters long. Growing with robust stems 2 to 4 meters tall, it forms large, dramatic clumps with distinctive blue-green to dark green foliage. Its leaves are 3 to 12 millimeters wide, with a small tuft of short hairs at the base and a blue-green surface. The plant reproduces sexually and can form dense, ornamental stands in disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: Sep-Mar

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: NCo, n SNF (American River), n ScV, CW (exc SCoRI), SCo, ChI, WTR, cultivated elsewhere

California counties: Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Ventura, Riverside, Yolo, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Butte, Humboldt, Alameda, Mendocino, Solano, Nevada

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