Stipa divaricata

Small-flowered rice grass, Small-Flowered Rice Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Small-flowered rice grass is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in White and Inyo Mountains and desert mountains in gravel benches, rocky slopes, and creek banks at elevations of 800 to 3,100 meters. Flowering from June to September, this delicate grass produces pale flowers in open branching inflorescences with slender, compressed spikelets. Growing with stems 20 to 85 centimeters tall, it forms fine, dense clusters with glabrous leaf sheaths. Its narrow leaf blades are 5 to 16 centimeters long, typically less than 2.5 millimeters wide with margins generally rolled inward. The grass has a distinctive awn 4 to 8 millimeters long, nearly straight and easily detached from the small lemma.

Habitat: Gravel benches, rocky slopes, creek banks

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 800-3100 m

Bioregions: W&ampI, DMtns

California counties: Mono, San Diego

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