Vahlodea atropurpurea

Mountain hairgrass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Mountain hairgrass is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, including Marble Mountains and Trinity Alps, and the high Cascade Range near Mount Shasta in wet meadows and streambanks within conifer forest at elevations of 2,000 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces purple-tinged spikelets in open, spreading panicles over one centimeter wide. Growing in dense tufts with erect stems 15 to 60 centimeters tall, it forms distinctive clumps with glabrous basal leaves. Its leaves are flat, 4 to 9 centimeters long and 3 to 7 millimeters wide, with short ligules that are obtuse to truncate and minutely ciliate at the tip. The delicate spikelets feature lemmas with soft hairs and small straight awns, giving the plant a subtle, intricate texture.

Habitat: Wet sites, meadows, streambanks, in conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 2000-2300 m

Bioregions: KR (Marble Mtns, Trinity Alps), CaRH (Mount Shasta)

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