Leersia oryzoides

Rice cutgrass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Rice cutgrass is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province (except the Central Western region) in marshes, streams, and ponds at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from August to October, this grass produces pale flowers in delicate, spreading branches 12 to 20 centimeters long. Growing with tall stems 1 to 1.5 meters high, it has nodes covered in soft hairs and an upright, robust form. Its leaves are distinctive, with blades 10 to 28 centimeters long and 8 to 14 millimeters wide, featuring strongly scabrous margins with downward-pointing teeth that give the plant a rough texture. The spikelets are small, approximately 4 to 5 millimeters long, with oblong to narrowly elliptic shapes.

Habitat: Marshes, streams, ponds

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc CW)

California counties: Amador, Colusa, Merced, Riverside, Yolo, Sacramento, Trinity, San Bernardino, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Orange, Siskiyou, Sonoma, San Joaquin, Placer, Nevada, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Kern, Napa, Plumas, Solano, Sutter, Tulare, Yuba, Butte, Fresno, Tehama, Shasta, Madera, Inyo, Alameda, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara

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