Poa atropurpurea

San bernardino bluegrass, San Bernardino Blue Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Endangered

San bernardino bluegrass is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the San Bernardino Mountains and Peninsular Ranges in moist meadows at elevations of 1,250 to 2,320 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces purple-tinted spikelets in compact clusters with delicate inflorescences. Growing in dense tufts 10 to 55 centimeters tall with spreading rhizomes, it forms elegant clumped formations in mountain grasslands. Its narrow leaves are firm and tightly folded, measuring 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide, with short ligules 1 to 2 millimeters long. The plant is dioecious, with separate male and female plants producing distinctive, glabrous spikelets 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long.

Habitat: Moist meadows

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 1250-2320 m

Bioregions: SnBr, PR.

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego

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