Elymus stebbinsii

Stebbins' wheat grass, Stebbins' Wheat Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Stebbins' wheat grass is a California native perennial found in the northern Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, southern Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in dry slopes, chaparral, and conifer forest at elevations below 2,230 meters. Flowering from June to July, this grass produces green to tan spikelets with delicate awns. Growing in tufted clumps 60 to 140 centimeters tall, sometimes spreading from short underground rhizomes, with sturdy upright stems. Its leaf blades are 2 to 6 millimeters wide, flat or slightly rolled, with tiny persistent auricles at the base of each leaf. The grass produces multiple spikelets 12 to 29 millimeters long, with 5 to 7 florets and awns ranging from absent to 28 millimeters long.

Habitat: dry slopes, chaparral, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < 2230 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, SN, SCoR, TR, PR.

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