Kingdom Plantae Family Poaceae Scientific name Orcuttia pilosa | Order Poales Genus Orcuttia Rank Species | |
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Similar Orcuttia, Orcuttia tenuis, Orcuttia viscida, Tuctoria greenei, Tuctoria | ||
Orcuttia pilosa is a rare species of grass known by the common name hairy Orcutt grass.
Contents
Distribution
It is endemic to the Central Valley of California, where it grows only in vernal pools, a rare and declining type of habitat. Many known occurrences of the plant have been extirpated as land in the heavily agricultural Central Valley has been altered, and it was federally listed as an endangered species in 1997. In that year there were 25 known remaining populations of the grass, only 12 of which were considered stable.
Description
Orcuttia pilosa is a small, densely hairy annual bunchgrass forming tufts up to about 20 centimeters tall when growing erect. The inflorescence is a crowded cluster of overlapping hairy spikelets.
References
Orcuttia pilosa Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA