Distichlis spicata

Salt grass, Salt Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Salt grass is a native perennial found in coastal, central, and inland California bioregions including the North Coast, Klamath Ranges, Central Valley, Central Western, and Great Basin areas in salt marshes, coastal dunes, and alkaline habitats at elevations below 1,550 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces straw-colored to purple flowers in dense, narrowly cylindric panicles 2 to 8 centimeters long. Growing with stout, scaly yellow rhizomes and erect stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms extensive ground-covering colonies. Its leaves are stiff and flat, typically 2 to 10 centimeters long, spreading in dense, compact clusters. The plant's distinctive underground rhizome system allows it to thrive in challenging, saline environments.

Habitat: Salt marshes, coastal dunes, moist, alkaline areas

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 1550 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRI, NCoRO, CaR, SN, GV, CW, SW, GB (exc Wrn, W&ampI), D (exc DMtns)

California counties: Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Lassen, Mono, Monterey, Sonoma, Ventura, Colusa, Yolo, Humboldt, Kings, Modoc, Nevada, Butte, El Dorado, Lake, Merced, Napa, Placer, Plumas, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Alameda, Marin, Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Tulare, Glenn, Trinity, Tuolumne, Madera, Sierra, Del Norte, Sacramento, Alpine, San Benito

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