Nassella lepida

Nassella lepida
Conservation status
	; Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Nassella
Species:	N. lepida
Binomial name
	Nassella lepida; (Hitchc.) Barkworth
Synonyms
	Stipa lepida

Nassella lepida (syn. Stipa lepida) is a species of grass known by the common names foothill needlegrass,^[1]^[2] foothills nassella,^[3] foothill stipa, small-flowered stipa, small-flowered needlegrass, and smallflower tussockgrass.^[4] It is native to California in the United States, where it occurs as far north as Humboldt County,^[4] and its range extends into Baja California.^[2]

This is a perennial bunchgrass growing up to a meter tall. The flat or rolled leaf blades are up to 23 centimeters long. The panicle is up to 55 centimeters long and has branches bearing up to 6 spikelets each The spikelet has an awn up to 4.6^[2] to 5.5^[3] centimeters long.

This grass grows in chaparral and grassland habitat.^[2] It can also be found in coastal sage scrub and coastal prairie.^[4]

This species and several others were recently transferred from genus Stipa into Nassella, mainly on the basis of their "strongly convolute lemmas". Genetic evidence supports the transfer.^[3]

This species may hybridize with Nassella pulchra.^[3]

References

^ Nassella lepida. USDA PLANTS Profile.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Nassella lepida. The Jepson Manual.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Barkworth, M. Nassella lepida. In: Barkworth et al. (eds.), Grass Manual. Flora of North America.
^ ^a ^b ^c Calflora. 2013. Nassella lepida. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.

External links

[usda-1] Nassella lepida. USDA PLANTS Profile.

[jeps-2] Nassella lepida. The Jepson Manual.

[gm-3] Barkworth, M. Nassella lepida. In: Barkworth et al. (eds.), Grass Manual. Flora of North America.

[cal-4] Calflora. 2013. Nassella lepida. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.

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