Foothill Needle Grass :

Stipa lepida
NATIVE

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

Monocotyledon
- Monocots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
Grass Family (Poaceae)
Perennial bunchgrass
Open, nodding inflorescence (flower arrangement) develops many needle-like seedheads
Wind pollinated
Seeds have sharply-pointed tips and twice-bent awns (stiff, hair-like appendages)
Height usually 1-2 ft.
Lifespan can exceed 100 years

Distribution

Native to California
- Grows in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and grasslands
- See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
Outside California, grows in Baja California, Mexico
Grows at elevations to 4,600 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

Wildlife
- Provides cover and forage for a variety of wildlife
- Seeds eaten by a variety of wildlife, e.g. quail (Heiple 2018)
Native people
- Had many uses for native bunch grasses
  - Seeds were gathered, parched, and ground into flours (Anderson 2005)
  - Non-food uses included lining cooking pits, stringing drying foods, and as flooring or bedding

Name Derivation

Stipa (STY-pa) – from the Greek for “flax” or “fiber,” for the tufted flower clusters
lepida (LEH-pid-a) – from the Latin for “elegant” or “graceful”
Needle grass – awns (stiff, hair-like appendages) are long and fine, like a needle trailing a thread

Adaptations

Seed is adapted to promote dispersal and planting (Cunningham 2010)
- Long, twice-bent awn (stiff, hair-like appendages) hooks onto fur or clothing
- Pointed tip and rough, unidirectional hairs on the seed body help work it into fur, clothing, and soil
- Awn twists when dry and straightens out when wet allowing the seeds to drill themselves into the ground, self-planting
Deep roots of native perennial bunchgrasses help plants survive drought, fire, and intermittent grazing
- High-intensity, continuous grazing, especially in drought conditions, will kill them

Notes

Wind pollinated – see Grass family to learn more
About 80% of California’s native grasses, including foothill needle grass, are perennials (Beidleman and Kozloff 2003)
Native perennial bunch grasses provide advantages to the native ecosystem
- Growth habit leaves room for wildflowers
  - In contrast, non-native annual grasses often grow in thick carpets and can form an impenetrable thatch that chokes out other plants
Deep roots
- Draw water and nutrients to the surface where they can be used by other plants; in contrast, shallowly-rooted non-native annual grasses take resources from the soil surface (Heiple 2018)
- Provide erosion control
- Act as highly effective carbon sinks
  - The rate of carbon sequestration increases with soil depth
  - Even when these grasses die, the carbon remains in the soil, providing resilience to climate change
Needlegrasses “are the redwoods of the grass world with life spans exceeding 100 years” (Don Reese, a USDA soil conservationist, quoted in Wilson 2012)
Some references classify needlegrasses in the genus Nassela

ID Tips

At Edgewood

Widespread in chaparral and scrub; look for it at the sloping margins of grasslands and woodlands, often in part shade
- See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
Flowers April – June

Specific References

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley. Pp. 255-261.

Beidleman, L.H. and E.N. Kozloff. 2003. Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region: Mendocino to Monterey. University of California, Berkeley.

Cunninham, L. 2010. State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California. Heyday, Berkeley, California. Pg. 111.

Heiple, P. 2018, Aug. 8. Personal communication.

Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. 2019. Carbon sequestration in grasslands.

U.S. Forest Service. Wind and water pollination. Forest Service. United States Department of Agriculture.

Wilson, B. 2012. Stipa lepida, Foothill Stipa. Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery.