Glyceria grandis

American manna grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

American manna grass is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, northern coastal ridges, Sierra Nevada, and Sierra Nevada eastern regions in wet meadows, lake and stream margins at elevations below 2,100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this grass produces delicate green-tinged spikelets with pale green flowers in loose, spreading branches 16 to 40 centimeters long. Growing with robust stems 90 to 200 centimeters tall and 3 to 6 millimeters in diameter, it forms dense, upright clumps in moist environments. Its leaves have thick, wide blades 4 to 15 millimeters across and ligules 2 to 7 millimeters long, creating a lush, verdant appearance. The grass produces small ovoid spikelets 4 to 6.5 millimeters long, each containing 4 to 7 florets with slightly flat tips.

Habitat: Wet places, meadows, lake and stream margins

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, SN, SNE

California counties: Mendocino, El Dorado, San Bernardino, Madera, Placer, Humboldt, Fresno, Mono, Tulare, Sierra

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