Elymus californicus

California bottle-brush grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

California bottle-brush grass is a California native perennial found in northern coastal California, including the Santa Cruz Mountains, in conifer forest at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from May to August, this grass produces pale green to wheat-colored flower spikes in erect clusters 10 to 30 centimeters long. Growing with rigid stems 1 to 2 meters tall, it forms dense clumps with stiff, upright growth. Its flat leaf blades are broad, measuring 10 to 28 millimeters wide, with small slender auricles at the base of each leaf. The plant produces distinctive bottle-brush-like seed heads with long, straight awns 16 to 33 millimeters extending from each spikelet.

Habitat: Conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, n CCo, SnFrB (Santa Cruz Mtns).

California counties: San Mateo, Marin, Santa Cruz, Sonoma

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