Hainardia cylindrica

Barbgrass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Barbgrass is a naturalized annual grass found in coastal regions including northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, deltaic Great Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern Coast at elevations below 570 meters in coastal salt marshes and alkaline soils. Flowering from March to July, this grass produces spike-like cylindrical flower clusters 8 to 20 centimeters long with stiff, straight formations. Growing 20 to 50 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that are glabrous and branched, it develops flat, ribbed leaves 6 to 10 centimeters long that are 1 to 2 millimeters wide with scabrous upper surfaces. Its distinctive spike-like inflorescence features alternating, appressed spikelets that break apart at nodes, with upper glumes 5 to 7 millimeters long and thick, rigid margins. The fruit is small, measuring 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Coastal salt marshes, alkaline soils

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: < 570 m

Bioregions: NCo, n SNF (Amador Co.), deltaic GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCo

California counties: Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Monterey, Humboldt, Amador, San Mateo, Riverside, Orange, Santa Barbara, Yuba, Solano, Butte, San Benito, Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Glenn, Colusa, San Joaquin, Madera, Stanislaus, Napa, Calaveras, Yolo, Alameda, Santa Cruz

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