Ruppia cirrhosa

Ditch grass

Family: Ruppiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Ditch grass is a California native perennial found in coastal, valley, and desert regions including the North Coast, Central Western California, South Coast, San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin, and Desert bioregions in freshwater marshes, ponds, and sloughs at elevations below 2,045 meters. Flowering from April to July, this aquatic plant produces small, inconspicuous greenish flowers. Growing submerged in water with slender, branching stems that can extend up to several meters in length, it forms dense underwater meadows. Its thin, linear leaves are narrow and grass-like, emerging directly from the stems and floating or waving with water currents. The plant reproduces both sexually and through vegetative spread, allowing it to colonize diverse aquatic habitats efficiently.

Habitat: Freshwater marshes, ponds, sloughs

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2045 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRI, Teh, SnJV, CW, SCo, SnBr, GB, D

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