''Orcuttia californica'' is a rare species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known by the common name California Orcutt grass.

Distribution

It is native to southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in scattered locations in vernal pool habitat. In 1993 it was known from fewer than 20 occurrences, including those at the

Santa Rosa Plateau The Santa Rosa Plateau is an upland plateau and southeastern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains in Riverside County, southern California. It is bounded by the rapidly urbanizing Inland Empire cities of Murrieta and Temecula to the northeast and ...

, a creek drainage near Hemet, Otay Mesa in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, and one spot in Woodland Hills. ''Orcuttia californica'' is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

, and its existence is still threatened by the disappearance of vernal pools in the region, a naturally rare habitat type that has been reduced further by urban development.USFWS
Determination of endangered status for three vernal pool plants and the Riverside fairy shrimp
''Federal Register'' August 3, 1993.

Description

''Orcuttia californica'' is a small, hairy annual grass with prostrate stems sometimes forming small tufts or mats, rarely exceeding 15 centimeters tall. It is bright green, aromatic, and glandular, secreting sticky, bitter-tasting exudate.Center for Plant Conservation
/ref> The leaves are 1 or 2 centimeters long, the first set produced when the pool is wet, another set growing during the dry season. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is up to 6 centimeters long with red-maroon to pink anthers extending out from the terminal spikelets.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Orcuttia californica''Grass Manual Treatment - Orcuttia californica''Orcuttia californica'' - Photo gallery
californica Native grasses of California Bunchgrasses of North America Flora of Baja California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges {{Chloridoideae-stub