Sporobolus foliosus

California cord grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California cord grass is a native perennial found in coastal bioregions including North Coast, Central Coast, and Southern Coast in salt marshes, mudflats, and shores at elevations below 10 meters. Flowering from June to November, this plant produces small, dense inflorescences with cylindrical flowering branches 9 to 25 centimeters long. Growing in small clumps with thick stems 60 to 150 centimeters tall, it forms distinctive dense clusters with fleshy internodes. Its leaves are long and flat, 15 to 45 centimeters in length, with approximately 5 ridges per millimeter on upper leaf surfaces. In salt environments, the plant spreads through thick rhizomes 2 to 6 millimeters wide, allowing it to colonize challenging coastal habitats.

Habitat: Salt marshes, mudflats, shores

Bloom period: Jun-Nov

Elevation: < 10 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCo

California counties: Orange, San Mateo, Humboldt, Alameda, Los Angeles, Marin, Santa Clara, San Diego, Solano, Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Ventura, Del Norte, San Francisco, San Bernardino

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