California Native Grasses

Copy Link

S E E D

S U P P L I E S F O R N O R T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A

CALIFORNIA NATIVE GRASSES

All grasses are grown and/or collected from California sources. Custom mixes are available. CONTACT US for further information and ask about our collecting & producing seed for you.

*Multiple types available

Genus Species
Common Name

Achnatherum occidentalis Agrostis exerata Agrostis pallens
Western Needlegrass Native Spiked Bentgrass Thingrass
Bromus carinatus* Bromus maritimus
California Bromegrass Maritime Brome
Danthonia californica Deschampsia caespitosa* Deschampsia caespitosa var. holciformis Deschampsia elongatum Elymus elymoides*
California Oatgrass Tufted Hairgrass California Hairgrass Slender Hairgrass Bottlebrush Squirreltail

Blue Wild Rye
Elymus glaucus*

Elymus multisetus
Big Squirreltail

Elymus trachycaulum var. Yolo* Festuca californica
California Slender Wheatgrass California Fescue

Festuca idahoensis*
Idaho Fescue

Festuca occidentalis* Festuca rubra, Molate Blue Festuca rubra, Molate Hordeum brachyantherum* Hordeum californicum Hordeum depressum Koeleria macrantha
Western Fescue/Mokelumne Blue Molate Blue Fescue Molate Red Fescue Meadow Barley California Barley & Prostrate form Alkali Barley Junegrass

Leymus triticoides*
Creeping Wild Rye, Rio

California/Coast Range Oniongrass Littleseed Deergrass Nodding Needlegrass Deergrass
Melica californica/M. imperfect Muhlenbergia microsperma Nassella cernua Muhlenbergia rigens

Nassella cernua*
Nodding Needlegrass

533 HAWTHORNE PLACE • LIVERMORE, CA 94550 • WWW.PCSEED.COM • 925.373.4417 • FAX 925.373.6855

P D A T E D O N
A T
C A L N A T GR A S S
P
D O C
A GE

U
4/ 2/ 10
4:0 0 P M
V- A 10 10.
P
1

S E E D

S U P P L I E S F O R N O R T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A

Nassella lepida*
Foothill Stipa

Nassella pulchra* Pleuropogon californica Poa secunda
Purple Needlegrass Annual Semaphoregrass Pine Bluegrass

Vulpia microstachys
Three Weeks Fescue

533 HAWTHORNE PLACE • LIVERMORE, CA 94550 • WWW.PCSEED.COM • 925.373.4417 • FAX 925.373.6855

P D A T E D O N
A T
C A L N A T GR A S S
P
D O C
A GE

U
4/ 2/ 10
4:0 0 P M
V- A 10 10.
P
2

Recommended publications

Grasses Plant List

Grasses Plant List California Botanical Name Common Name Water Use Native Aristida purpurea purple three-awn Very Low X Arundinaria gigantea cane reed Low Bothriochloa barbinodis cane bluestem Low X Bouteloua curtipendula sideoats grama Low X Bouteloua gracilis, cvs. blue grama Low X Briza media quaking grass Low Calamagrostis x acutiflora cvs., e.g. Karl feather reed grass Low Foerster Cortaderia selloana cvs. pampas grass Low Deschampsia cespitosa, cvs. tufted hairgrass Low X Distichlis spicata (marsh, reveg.) salt grass Very Low X Elymus condensatus, cvs. (Leymus giant wild rye Low X condensatus) Elymus triticoides (Leymus triticoides) creeping wild rye Low X Eragrostis elliottii 'Tallahassee Sunset' Elliott's lovegrass Low Eragrostis spectabilis purple love grass Low Festuca glauca blue fescue Low Festuca idahoensis, cvs. Idaho fescue Low X Festuca mairei Maire's fescue Low Helictotrichon sempervirens, cvs. blue oat grass Low Hordeum brachyantherum Meadow barley Very Low X Koeleria macrantha (cristata) June grass Low X Melica californica oniongrass Very Low X Melica imperfecta coast range onion grass Very Low X Melica torreyana Torrey's melic Very Low X Muhlenbergia capillaris, cvs. hairy awn muhly Low Muhlenbergia dubia pine muhly Low Muhlenbergia filipes purply muhly Low Muhlenbergia lindheimeri Lindheimer muhly Low Muhlenbergia pubescens soft muhly Low Muhlenbergia rigens deer grass Low X Nassella gigantea giant needle grass Low Panicum spp. panic grass Low Panicum virgatum, cvs. switch grass Low Pennisetum alopecuroides, cvs.
Needlegrass Notes Volume 56:2 Summer 2010

Needlegrass Notes Volume 56:2 Summer 2010 Society for Range Management California-Pacific Section President’s Message Jim Sullins Time has flown by and as your Section President this year, I have had several rewarding opportunities, and I thank you for Your 2010 Section those opportunities to be of service to the Section and to grow Officers & Board personally and professionally. As one of the older folks now, it President: Jim Sullins [email protected] seems ironic to talk about growing (besides adding pounds), (559) 685-3309 ext. 209 but that is what being involved in the society does for us pro- President-Elect: Susan Marshall fessionally and personally, it promotes our continuing growth [email protected] (707) 826-4064 no matter how long you have been at it. Past-President: Rob Pearce [email protected] The May 4, 2010 Spring meeting at Deep Springs was great, (760) 872-6111 Rob and his crew did an excellent job, and the food was great, the technical session Secretary: Sheila Barry was very well done and the food was great, and the tour was very informative and [email protected] (408) 282-3106 the food was great, it was fun camping out and getting to know some of the new Treasurer: Edie Jacobsen members and did I mention the food was great? Deep Springs College must be a [email protected] (619) 532-3618 one of a kind based on location, curriculum, students, and staff leadership. Built on Newsletter Editors: the three principles of Labor, Education and Self-Governance, it was hard to miss Morgan Doran (content) that it is a special place, and I want to thank Rob for making the arrangements and [email protected] (707) 784-1326 all that participated in making the meeting a success.
Soil Heterogeneity and the Distribution of Native Grasses in California: Can Soil Properties Inform Restoration Plans? 1, KRISTINA M

Soil heterogeneity and the distribution of native grasses in California: Can soil properties inform restoration plans? 1, KRISTINA M. HUFFORD, SUSAN J. MAZER, AND JOSHUA P. S CHIMEL Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA Citation: Hufford, K. M., S. J. Mazer, and J. P. Schimel. 2014. Soil heterogeneity and the distribution of native grasses in California: Can soil properties inform restoration plans? Ecosphere 5(4):46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES13-00377.1 Abstract. When historical vegetation patterns are unknown and local environments are highly degraded, the relationship between plant species distributions and environmental properties may provide a means to determine which species are suitable for individual restoration sites. We investigated the role of edaphic variation in explaining the distributions of three native bunchgrass species (Bromus carinatus, Elymus glaucus and Nassella pulchra) among central California mainland and island grasslands. The relative contribution of soil properties and spatial variation to native grass species abundance was estimated using canonical redundancy analysis, with subsequent testing of individual variables identified in ordination. Soil variables predicted a significant proportion (22–27%) of the variation in species distributions. Abiotic soil properties that drive species distributions included serpentine substrates and soil texture. Biotic properties that correlated with species distributions were ammonium and nitrogen mineralization rates. Spatial autocorrelation also contributed to species presence or absence at each site, and the significant negative autocorrelation suggested that species interactions and niche differentiation may play a role in species distributions in central California mainland and island grasslands. We explored the application of plant-environment relationships to ecological restoration for species selection at locations where degradation levels are high and historical communities are unclear.
California Native Sod SELECTION GUIDE

California Native Sod SELECTION GUIDE Once Established, All Blends Will Require Approximatelytely 50% Less Water Than Traditional Sod Varieties Distributed by All Blends Available on Biodegradable Netting Urban Landscapes / Parks / Golf Courses / Streetscapes Native Mow Free TM A low maintenance compliment to Contains two native fine fescues and one highly natural landscapes. This versatile grass naturalized variety can be maintained as a turf lawn or left unmowed. Excellent shade and cold tolerance Deep green glossy leaves • Western Mokelumne Fescue - Festuca Slow growing, narrow leafed grass with blades occidentalis • Idaho Fescue - Festuca idahoensis that are very lax and flexuous • Molate Fescue - Festuca rubra Provides soil stabilization for sloped areas Native Bentgrass TM The industry’s 1st choice for native Uniform growth habit and medium leaf texture lawn areas. Native Bentgrass™ delivers Thrives in full sun and partial shade excellent durability, exceptional recovery and a dark green turf mat. Withstands low mowing heights Strong sod mat provides effective weed barrier • Agrostis pallens Extremely drought tolerant Excellent wear recovery due to self repairing rhizomes Delta Grassland Mix TM A premium soft grass with botanical Narrow fine leafed texture emerald green color. Provides a Moderate wear resistance unique contrast when planted in ornamental settings. Slow growing, tuft forming, clumping grass Persists under drought conditions • Junegrass - Koeleria macrantha Prefers to grow in partial
1 Ecology and Restoration of California Grasslands with Special

Ecology and Restoration of California Grasslands with special emphasis on the influence of fire and grazing on native grassland species Carla D’Antonio* Susan Bainbridge* Coleman Kennedy* James Bartolomet Sally Reynolds* *Department of Integrative Biology tDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley, California 94720 Funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the University of California, Berkeley 1 Introduction The grasslands of California's Mediterranean climate region are unique because they occur within a region where precipitation falls only during the cold part of the year, they have a very strong representation of annual species in their flora and they have undergone a large-scale replacement of native species by European ones over the past 150 years. Today, they occupy approximately 10 million ha either as open grassland or as understory in oak-dominated savannas and woodlands (Heady et al. 1992). Forage from these lands provides the grazing resource for range livestock production, a leading agricultural commodity in the State. In addition, California grassland and oak savanna ecosystems are extremely important as wildlife habitat (Guisti et al. 1996) and as a center of high native plant diversity. Indeed, around 90% of species listed in the Inventory of Rare and Endangered Species in California (Skinner and Pavlik 1994), occur within California grassland settings. Despite the value of California grasslands for both range production and native biological diversity, this habitat is increasingly reduced in acreage and quality due to conversion for cropland, residential and urban development and exotic species invasion. As a result, intact native grassland today is among one of the state’s most threatened ecosystems (Noss et al.
Dissertation Indaziflam

DISSERTATION INDAZIFLAM: A NEW CELLULOSE BIOSYNTHESIS INHIBITING HERBICIDE PROVIDES LONG-TERM CONTROL OF INVASIVE WINTER ANNUAL GRASSES Submitted by Derek James Sebastian Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Spring 2017 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Scott Nissen George Beck Paul Meiman Todd Gaines Copyright by Derek James Sebastian 2017 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT INDAZIFLAM: A NEW CELLULOSE BIOSYNTHESIS INHIBITING HERBICIDE PROVIDES LONG-TERM CONTROL OF INVASIVE WINTER ANNUAL GRASSES Invasive winter annual grasses such as downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) are a threat to native ecosystems throughout the US. These invasive grasses exploit moisture and nutrients throughout the fall and early spring before native plants break dormancy. This results in decreased native species abundance and development of monotypic stands. Short-term downy brome management has been shown to be effective; however, the soil seed reserve has often been overlooked although it’s the mechanism responsible for rapid re-establishment. While glyphosate, imazapic, and rimsulfuron are herbicides commonly recommended to control invasive, annual grasses, their performance is inconsistent, and they can injure desirable perennial grasses. Indaziflam is a recently registered cellulose-biosynthesis inhibiting herbicide, providing broad spectrum control of annual grass and broadleaf weeds. Indaziflam (Esplanade®, Bayer CropScience) is a cellulose biosynthesis inhibiting (CBI) herbicide that is a unique mode of action for resistance management and has broad spectrum activity at low application rates. At three sites, glyphosate and rimsulfuron provided less downy brome control than indaziflam one year after treatment (YAT). Percent downy brome control with imazapic decreased significantly 2 YAT (45-64%), and 3 YAT (10-32%).
View Conceptual Plant List for South Gates Park Garden

P a g e | 1 South Gate Park Conceptual Plant List Salvia ‘Skylark’ a low growing Salvia cultivar that grows 2’ high by 4’ wide. This groundcover is a profuse bloomer and looks good year-round making it an excellent addition to the California native garden! SS Ceanothus ‘Joyce Coulter' is an eve rgreen mountain lilac groundcover, 2’ high by 10’ wide, with flowers of medium blue. Joyce Coulter blooms in March-May, has dark green foliage, and is heat and drought tolerant. One of the more reliable ground covers Joyce Coulter is very drought resistant and can live for decades in an un-watered garden, but looks best with occasional summer irrigation. Tip prune upright stems. JCC P a g e | 2 South Gate Park Conceptual Plant List Carex divulsa is fast growing vibrant green clumping sedge to 2' tall and wide. Widely adaptable this plant can be planted in wet or arid soil, tolerates sun to partial shade and can be drought tolerant. It has tan to brown flowers in the spring. BS Aristida purpurea Purple Three-Awn is a native bunchgrass with graceful narrow leaves with beautiful delicate purple seed heads. It grows 2 x 2 in height/width. AP P a g e | 3 South Gate Park Conceptual Plant List Epilobium californicum California Fuchsia is a woody stemmed perennial that grows 1-2' tall with green to grey leaves. It grows along the coast from Santa Cruz to L.A. This plant tolerates alkaline soil, sand, clay, seasonal flooding, high traffic (people walking on it) and deer.
Community Classification and Nomenclature

T HREE Community Classification and Nomenclature TODD KEELER-WOLF, JULIE M. EVENS, AYZIK I. SOLOMESHCH, V. L. HOLLAND, AND MICHAEL G. BARBOUR Grass-dominated vegetation covers approximately one-fourth Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg 1974). In addition, each type of California’s area, and it is well known that virtually all of exists in a precontact and a postcontact condition. Four of it has been significantly modified by the invasion of natural- them are regional in distribution, but serpentine grassland is ized annual and perennial grasses and forbs. Less commonly azonal and not limited to a single geographic region. understood is the fact that this type conversion resulted in Before we tour these major types, we offer several defini- very few extinctions. Bartolome et al. (in press) concluded tions. These definitions are largely our own creation, because that—although local extirpation, reduced abundance, and the literature is so inconsistent in their treatment. range retraction characterize the status of the once-dominant native taxa—only a few species have retreated to the point of Vegetation and Community Type Definitions complete extinction. Only four of the 29 taxa presumed to be extinct throughout all of California could have once been Grassland is vegetation that belongs to the Herbaceous For- components of the valley grassland (CNPS 2001). Native mation Class, defined by Grossman et al. (1998) as “Herbs species remain rich in number, even if individually their cover (graminoids, forbs, and ferns) dominant (generally forming at is low. In some areas, their cumulative cover is greater than least 25% cover; trees, shrubs, and dwarf shrubs generally less that of the exotics.
Nassella Notes

Nassella Notes By David Amme Reprinted from Grasslands A Publication of the California Native Grass Association 2003 13(4):3p Nassella Notes by David Amme Nassella is a genus that is native to the western hemisphere. Nassella includes 116 species, making it one of the largest genera in the tribe Stipeae (Barkworth and Torres 2001). Argentina has the largest number of species with over 72 species. The rest of the Nassella species are spread out over the rest of South America, Central America, Mexico, the United States and Canada. Mexico has eight native species, five of which grow in the United States (California, New Mexico and Texas). There are five Nassella species growing in California, three native and two introduced. The native purple needlegrass (N. pulchra), nodding needlegrass (N. cernua) and foothill needlegrass (N. lepida), are confined to California and northern Baja California. The introduced Nassella species include N. manicata and N. tenuissima. N. manicata is from Chile and was misidentified by Barkworth in the Jepson Manual as N. formicarum (Barkworth and Torres 2001). N. tenuissima, known as Mexican feathergrass is native to the dry open woods of Texas, New Mexico, and northern Mexico as well as Argentina. In addition to California’s three Nassella species, and the Mexican feathergrass, there are two other native Nassella species north of the Mexican border: Green needlegrass (N. viridula) of the western plains of the United States and Canada, and Texas needlegrass (N. leucotricha) of the dry open grasslands of Oklahoma, Texas and central Mexico, with a grand total of 6 native Nassella species north of the Mexican border.
Nassella Pulchra (A. Hitchc.) Barkworth

SPECIES Nassella pulchra (A. Hitchc.) Barkworth [= Stipa pulchra Hitchc.] NRCS CODE: Tribe: Stipeae NAPU4 Family: Poaceae Order: Cyperales Subclass: Commelinidae Class: Liliopsida A. Montalvo A. Montalvo Carol W. Witham © 2004 Synonyms Stipa pulchra Hitchc. (Hickman 1993) (NRCS code STPU2); S. setigera Calif. (Munz 1974) Common name Purple needlegrass. Other names include: purple stipa, purple tussockgrass (Steinberg 2002); purple nassella; California purple needle grass; purple needle stipa (Painter 2009). Subspecific taxa None. Taxonomic relationships Species of Nassella were once considered part of the genus Stipa and are related to Stipa, Achnatherum , and Hesperostipa (Barkworth 1990). Barkworth & Torres (2001) report that there are at least 116 species of Nassella , most of which occur in South America; seven species are native to North America. Related taxa in region Nassella cernua (Stebbins & Love) Barkworth; Nassella lepida (Hitchc.) Barkworth. Amme (2003) provides hints to tell these species apart (see Distinguishing Traits, below). The non-native N. manicata (E. Desv.) Barkworth from South America strongly resembles N. pulchra and is now present in at least three counties in central CA. Taxonomic issues The Jepson Manual, 2nd Edition (JepsonOnline 2nd Ed 2010 ) will be returning to the name Stipa pulchra. The USDA PLANTS (2010) database is currently using N. pulchra (as of 9/29/10). Amme (2003) reports that N. pulchra included the species N. cernua up until Stebbins & Love (1941). Not all botanists agree with the separation of the genus Nassella from Stipa, and recent publications sometimes include the name Stipa pulchra (e.g., Roberts et al. 2004, Roberts 2008). Barkwork & Torres (2001) found diagnostic characters to separate Nassella from other species in the tribe Stipeae.
Effects of Competition and Temporal Variation on the Evolutionary Potential of Two Native Bunchgrass Species

RESEARCH ARTICLE Effects of Competition and Temporal Variation on the Evolutionary Potential of Two Native Bunchgrass Species Eric E. Knapp1,2 and Kevin J. Rice1,3 Abstract production differed among populations and was very low The capacity of restored plant populations to adapt when families were grown with interspecific competition. to new environmental challenges depends on within- Without interspecific competition, the degree of genetic population genetic variation. We examined how much determination peaked in year two in both species (8.4 and genetic and environmentally based variation for fitness- 15.1% in E. glaucus and N. pulchra, respectively). Signif- associated traits exists within populations of two native icant genetic differences in reproduction and phenotypic grasses commonly used for restoration in California. We plasticity were found among N. pulchra subpopulations were also interested in understanding how phenotypic sampled less than 3 km apart, further highlighting the expression of genetic variation for these traits varies with importance of thoroughly sampling available genetic vari- growth environment. Thirty maternal families of Elymus ation in populations used for restoration. The variable and glaucus (Blue wild rye) and Nassella pulchra (Purple generally low expression of genetic variation indicates that needlegrass) were sampled from both coastal and inte- rates of adaptation in restored populations of these native rior populations and reciprocally transplanted into three grasses may vary temporally and may be especially slow replicated common gardens with and without interspecific within competitive environments. competition at each site. Reproductive output of families differed both among years and with competition treat- Key words: Elymus glaucus, genetic variation, Nassella ments.
Mechanisms of Influence of Invasive Grass Litter on Germination and Growth of Coexisting Species in California

Biol Invasions https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1668-5 ORIGINAL PAPER Mechanisms of inﬂuence of invasive grass litter on germination and growth of coexisting species in California Bao-Ming Chen . Carla M. D’Antonio . Nicole Molinari . Shao-Lin Peng Received: 16 May 2017 / Accepted: 13 January 2018 Ó Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract In grasslands, litter has been recognized as and two native (the grass S. pulchra, and the forb an important factor promoting grass persistence and Clarkia purpurea) herbaceous plants in a greenhouse the suppression of forbs. The invasive European setting. Our results showed that B. diandrus litter annual grass Bromus diandrus (ripgut brome) is cover hindered seedling establishment of the four widespread throughout California, where it produces species tested, but that the degree and mechanism of a persistent and thick litter layer. The native grass, inhibition was dependent on which species was tested, Stipa pulchra, is also common in some grassland life form (e.g. monocot/dicot) and seed size. Seedling settings and can also produce persistent litter, yet it is emergence of the two forb species was more vulner- typically associated with more forbs. Very little is able to litter cover than either grass species and both known about the mechanisms through which these two forbs had smaller seed size. After germination, only common grass species inﬂuence seedling establish- seedling biomass of B. diandrus itself was reduced by ment of both exotic invasive and native herbs. Here, litter (both B. diandrus and S. pulchra). We found no we evaluated the effect of B.