Elymus pacificus

Pacific wild-rye

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pacific wild-rye is a California native perennial found in southern North Coast, Central Coast, and northern Channel Islands bioregions on coastal bluffs at elevations below 230 meters. Flowering from May to July, this grass produces pale green to green flowers in compact spikes 2 to 8 centimeters long. Growing with strongly rhizomatous stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall that are glabrous or sparsely hairy near the nodes, it spreads extensively through underground stems. Its leaf blades are 10 to 30 centimeters long and 2 to 4 millimeters wide, often extending beyond the flower cluster with short, minimal auricles. The grass forms dense clumps with multiple stems emerging from a complex underground root system.

Habitat: Coastal bluffs

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 230 m

Bioregions: s NCo, CCo, n ChI.

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