''Melica torreyana'' is a species of
grass known by the common name Torrey's melicgrass.
Distribution
It is
endemic to
California, where it grows in
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
,
grassland, and other hillside and mountain
habitats in the northern and central sections of the state.
Description
''Melica torreyana'' is a perennial
bunchgrass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...
with dense clumps of stems up to a meter-3 feet long. The
inflorescence is a narrow panicle of small spikelets each under a centimeter long.
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - Melica torreyanaGrass Manual Treatment''Melica torreyana'' - Photo Gallery
torreyana
Bunchgrasses of North America
Endemic flora of California
Native grasses of California
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Pooideae-stub