Orcuttia pilosa

Hairy orcutt grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Hairy orcutt grass is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in the Great Valley bioregion, specifically in Madera, Merced, Stanislaus, and Tehama counties, inhabiting vernal pools at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small, delicate flowers crowded at the tip of exserted inflorescences less than 10 centimeters long. Growing as a densely hairy, tufted plant with decumbent to erect stems 5 to 20 centimeters tall, it forms compact clusters in seasonal wetland environments. Its leaves have blades 3 to 5 millimeters wide, with a distinct separation between leaf sheath and blade when dry. The plant features small spikelets with glumes approximately 3 millimeters long and irregularly 3-toothed, containing 10 to 40 florets with lemmas 4 to 5 millimeters long.

Habitat: Vernal pools

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: GV (Madera, Merced, Stanislaus, Tehama cos.).

California counties: Merced, Madera, Stanislaus, Tehama, Glenn

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