Elymus multisetus

Big squirreltail, Big Squirreltail

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Big squirreltail is a California native perennial grass found in open, sandy to rocky areas below 3,800 meters elevation. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces delicate grass inflorescences with distinctive curving awns that can extend 25 to 200 millimeters long. Growing in dense, cespitose clumps with erect to ascending stems 15 to 60 centimeters tall, it forms robust grass clusters in dry landscapes. Its leaves are flat or rolled, 1.5 to 5 millimeters wide, with short ligules and small auricles less than 1.5 millimeters long. The grass develops spikelets with intricate glume divisions that curve outward as they mature, creating a distinctive squirreltail-like appearance.

Habitat: Open, sandy to rocky areas

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 3800 m

Bioregions: CA

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

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