Kingdom Plantae Family Poaceae Scientific name Melica subulata Rank Species | Order Poales Genus Melica Higher classification Melica | |
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Similar Melica, Grasses, Melica harfordii, Melica bulbosa, Melica stricta | ||
Melica subulata is a species of grass known by the common name Alaska oniongrass.
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Distribution
It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist habitat, often in forests.
Melica subulata is a main understory member of the Douglas-fir/Alaska oniongrass plant community, a rare plant association that occurs on the southern edge of Vancouver Island on the Strait of Georgia. This plant community once had a wider range, occurring also along the Puget Sound and in the Willamette Valley.
Description
Melica subulata is a rhizomatous perennial grass with clustered onionlike corms at the base of each stem. It grows to a maximum height near 1.3 meters. The inflorescence is a narrow or spreading panicle of cylindrical, pointed spikelets which may be nearly 3 centimeters long.