Lamarckia aurea

Goldentop grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Goldentop grass is a naturalized annual grass found in northern coastal ranges, northern inner coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, central western, and southwestern California in open ground, moist seeps, rocky hillsides, and sandy soil at elevations below 1,250 meters. Flowering from February to May, this grass produces golden yellow to purple spikelets in dense, terminal panicle-like clusters with distinctive falling cluster formations. Growing 7 to 40 centimeters tall with generally erect stems, it forms a tufted, glabrous clump. Its flat leaf blades measure 2.5 to 9 centimeters long and 2.5 to 7 millimeters wide, with membranous ligules 3 to 7 millimeters long and irregularly cut tips. Each spikelet features fertile florets with straight awns 6 to 7 millimeters long, creating a delicate, intricate grass structure.

Habitat: Open ground, moist seeps, rocky hillsides, sandy soil

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: < 1250 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, NCoRI, SNF, Teh, CW, SW

California counties: Kern, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Santa Barbara, Tulare, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, Monterey, Stanislaus, Alameda, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Merced, San Benito, Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, Butte, San Mateo, Glenn, Napa, Contra Costa, 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.