Poa secunda var. secunda

Sandberg bluegrass, canby bluegrass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sandberg bluegrass is a native perennial grass found in sagebrush deserts, pinyon-juniper woodland, higher montane forests, and alpine regions across western North America at elevations of 900 to 3,900 meters. Flowering from May to August, this grass produces delicate, soft green to pale green flower clusters in contracted panicles 3 to 15 centimeters long. Growing with slender stems 15 to 120 centimeters tall, it forms soft, flexible clumps with smooth to slightly rough leaf sheaths. Its leaves are soft and narrow, with smooth or slightly scabrous ligules 2 to 5 millimeters long that add a subtle texture to its delicate appearance. Each spikelet contains 3 to 6 florets, with lemmas that are short-hairy over the lower body, creating a subtly textured and intricate grassland presence.

Habitat: Sagebrush deserts, pinyon-juniper woodland, higher montane forests, to alpine

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 900-3900 m

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