Stipa diegoensis

San diego needle grass, San Diego Needle Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

San diego needle grass is a California native perennial ranked 4.2 by CNPS, found in northern and southern Channel Islands including San Nicolas Island and the Peninsular Ranges in chaparral and coastal-sage scrub near rocky streams or coastal areas at elevations below 2,280 meters. Flowering from March to June, this grass produces delicate pale straw-colored flowers with slender, scabrous awns up to 50 millimeters long. Growing with tall stems 110 to 140 centimeters high, it features densely hairy internodes just below each node. Its narrow leaf blades measure 15 to 40 centimeters long and 1 to 3.5 millimeters wide, with proximal leaf sheaths generally puberulent. The distinctive twisted, persistent awns give this needle grass a graceful, feathery appearance characteristic of its genus.

Habitat: Chaparral, coastal-sage scrub, in rocky soil near streams or the coast

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2280 m

Bioregions: n ChI, s ChI (San Nicolas Island), PR

California counties: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura

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