Poa rhizomata

Timber blue grass, Timber Blue Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Timber blue grass is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, specifically in northern Siskiyou and Trinity counties, on shady moist forest slopes at elevations of 400 to 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to July, this grass produces delicate pale green to bluish spikelets in loose, nodding clusters up to 10 centimeters long. Growing 25 to 60 centimeters tall with spreading rhizomes, it forms soft, flexible clumps in rich forest soils. Its leaves are soft and flat, 1.5 to 3.5 millimeters wide, with open sheaths and ligules 2 to 8 millimeters long. The spikelets feature hairy lemmas and cobwebby calluses, giving this grass a distinctive soft, wispy appearance.

Habitat: Shady moist slopes in forest, in rich loose soils, on ultramafic substrates (but not serpentine)

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 400-1000 m

Bioregions: KR (Siskiyou, n Trinity cos.)

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