Swallenia alexandrae

Eureka valley dune grass, Eureka Valley Dune Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Threatened

Eureka valley dune grass is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the Mojave Desert's Eureka Valley in northeastern Inyo County on sand dunes at elevations of 900 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this distinctive grass produces pale, delicate flower clusters in panicle-like arrangements 4 to 10 centimeters long. Growing in tufted clumps with thick, scaly rhizomes, it develops stiff, ascending stems 15 to 35 centimeters tall that are strongly ridged and generally glabrous. Its leaves are sharp-pointed, strongly divergent, and awl-like, measuring 5 to 14 centimeters long and 3 to 6 millimeters wide, with dense hairy ligules and tufts of soft hairs at the collar. The fruit is compact, approximately 4 millimeters long and 2 millimeters wide, falling cleanly from its floret.

Habitat: Sand dunes (locally abundant)

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 900-1200 m

Bioregions: DMoj (Eureka Valley, ne Inyo Co.).

California counties: Inyo, 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.