Orcuttia californica
Illustrator:
Copyright:
Plants sparsely hairy. Culms 5-15 (20) cm, simple, sometimes geniculate, usually prostrate and forming mats. Leaves with a faint collar line usually evident when dry; blades 1-2 cm long, 2-3 mm wide. Spikes 3-6 cm; lower internodes 5-10 mm; upper internodes about 1 mm. Spikelets with 5-15 (25) florets. Glumes subequal or the lower glumes a little shorter than the upper, 2-3 (4) mm, irregularly toothed; lemmas about 5 mm, teeth equal or the central tooth a little longer than the others, awns to 0.5 mm; paleas about equal to the lemmas; anthers about 2 mm. Caryopses 1.5-1.8 mm, narrowly elliptical; embryos at least 3/4 as long as the caryopses. 2n = 32.
Discussion
Orcuttia californica grows at elevations below 625 m in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego counties, California and northern Baja California, Mexico. It is listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
"decumbent" is not a number."/3" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.