Sporobolus alopecuroides

Foxtail prickle grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Foxtail prickle grass is a naturalized annual grass found in northern California bioregions including the Klamath Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, and coastal counties, typically growing in bottomland and river margins at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from June to September, this grass produces green to purple-black inflorescences with cylindric spikes 15 to 65 millimeters long. Growing with ascending stems 5 to 75 centimeters tall and few branches, the plant has a distinctive purple to black coloration. Its leaf blades extend 5 to 12 centimeters, appearing green or slightly bluish-gray, with smooth sheath margins. The grass produces small spikelet structures 1.8 to 2.5 millimeters long, with hairy glume keels and delicate anthers.

Habitat: Bottomland, reservoir and river margins

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRI, CaRH, n SN, ScV, CCo (Marin Co.), SNE

California counties: Glenn, Butte, Mendocino, Plumas, Tehama, Kern, Del Norte, Marin, Alpine, Yuba, Modoc, Colusa, Placer, Mono, Shasta, Yolo

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