Glyceria elata

Fowl manna grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Fowl manna grass is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, and Warner Mountains in wet places and conifer forests at elevations below 2,600 meters. Flowering from July to August, this grass produces small, delicate spikelets with ovoid flower clusters spreading in an open inflorescence. Growing with robust stems 60 to 150 centimeters tall and 2.5 to 8 millimeters in diameter, it forms dense clumps in moist habitats. Its leaves are thin and relatively wide, with blades 6 to 15 millimeters across and ligules 2 to 6 millimeters long. The plant's distinctive flower clusters feature 4 to 7 florets with boat-shaped lemma tips, creating a soft, graceful appearance in wet meadows and forest clearings.

Habitat: Common. Wet places, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: < 2600 m

Bioregions: NW, SN, SnBr, SnJt, Wrn

California counties: Humboldt, Tulare, San Bernardino, Riverside, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Sonoma, Del Norte, Placer, El Dorado, Madera, Mono, Modoc, Fresno, Trinity, Alpine, Amador, Lake, Shasta, Sierra, Yuba, Butte, Kern, Lassen, Mendocino, Nevada, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama, Marin, Glenn, Colusa, San Diego, Orange, San Benito

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