Elymus elymoides var. californicus

Squirrel tail grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Squirrel tail grass is a California native perennial grass found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, southern Great Basin, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, and northeastern Sierra Nevada in dry, open areas at elevations of 275 to 4,200 meters. Flowering from July to August, this grass produces pale green to straw-colored spikelets with distinctive long awns extending 25 to 70 millimeters. Growing with erect stems 30 to 80 centimeters tall, it forms dense, bristly tufts that become increasingly pale and straw-like as the season progresses. Its leaves are narrow and grass-like, typically 3 to 10 millimeters wide, with a rough texture that contributes to its distinctive appearance. The plant's most notable feature is its long, hair-like awns that give the grass a distinctively wild and windswept look in dry mountain landscapes.

Habitat: Dry, open areas

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 275-4200 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, SN, SnGb, SnBr, SnJt, SNE

California counties: Mono, Butte, Sierra, Plumas, Modoc, Lassen, Kern, Fresno, Tuolumne, Trinity, Siskiyou, Humboldt, San Diego, San Bernardino, Inyo, Alpine, Los Angeles, Nevada

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