Poa sierrae

Sierra blue grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Sierra blue grass is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada Foothills and northern and central Sierra Nevada in shady moist slopes, often on mossy rocks and in forest canyons at elevations of 350 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces delicate, sparse grass inflorescences with narrowly ovate panicles 5 to 15 centimeters long. Growing with slender rhizomatous stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, it develops distinctive purple, scaly axillary buds. Its soft, flat leaf blades are 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters wide, with ligules 3 to 6 millimeters long that are acute to acuminate and minutely scabrous. The grass develops unisexual flowers with lemmas 4 to 7 millimeters long, which are glabrous to sparsely hairy along the base, keel, and marginal veins.

Habitat: Shady moist slopes, often on mossy rocks, in canyons, forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 350-1500 m

Bioregions: n SNF, n&ampc SNH.

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