Torreyochloa pallida var. pauciflora

Weak manna grass, Weak Manna Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Weak manna grass is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central Coast Ranges, and North Coast Ranges in wet areas near streams and lake margins at elevations below 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to September, this grass produces delicate pale inflorescences 15 to 50 centimeters long with weakly spreading branches. Growing with stems 20 to 150 centimeters tall, it forms loose, open clusters in moist habitats. Its slender leaves are arranged along the stem, with lower branches that can spread or remain nearly erect. In its most distinctive feature, the grass produces small spikelets with 3 to 8 florets, the lowest lemma measuring 2.2 to 3.3 millimeters long.

Habitat: Wet areas in forest, stream or lake margins

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 3500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, CCo, MP

California counties: Butte, Plumas, Fresno, Tuolumne, Alpine, Tulare, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Nevada, Inyo, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Santa Cruz, Napa, El Dorado, Sonoma, Marin, Placer, Glenn, Sierra, Amador, Tehama, Calaveras, Mendocino, Del Norte, Lassen, Lake, Kern, San Mateo, Madera, Colusa, Shasta, Trinity

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