The grass ''Tuctoria mucronata'', which is known by several common names including prickly spiralgrass, Solano grass, and Crampton's tuctoria, is a federally listed

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

plant species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to two counties in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Description

It is a small annual, with stems growing decumbent against the ground to a maximum length of 12 cm, and turning upward at the tips. The leaves are 2–4 cm long, and secrete a sticky, aromatic juice. In the spring, the grass bears a small

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

1.5–6 cm long, with numerous crowded

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikelet that ...

Ecology

Solano grass is a

vernal pool Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe ...

plant. It is only found in these seasonally wet areas, a type of habitat which is endangered. This species is thought to have once grown in isolated parts the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, in areas which flooded during the wet season, but any former habitat there has been long since reclaimed for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. Only a few individuals of the plant now exist, mostly in

Yolo County Yolo County (; Wintun: ''Yo-loy''), officially the County of Yolo, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 216,403. Its county seat is Woodland. Yolo County is incl ...

. It was found during the 1990s at Jepson Prairie Preserve, an area dedicated to conserving vernal pool habitat, but it may no longer exist there. Loss of critical habitat is the main cause of the near extinction of Solano grass. This loss is caused by land reclamation for development, recreation, and agricultural use, including for grazing animals, fertilizer runoff, and disturbance of the natural

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...

of the Central Valley.

Invasive plants An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

have also played a role in crowding out more delicate native grasses, such as Solano grass, Greene's tuctoria (''Tuctoria greenei''), Colusa grass (''Neostapfia colusana''), and several species of genus ''

Orcuttia ''Orcuttia'' is a genus of grass in the family Poaceae. Plants grow up to tall, usually with many stems emerging from the base of the plant, and forming a tuft. The spikelets (groups of flowers) are several-flowered, with reduced upper florets. ...

''.

References

External links

Jepson Manual (TJM93) treatment of ''Tuctoria mucronata''The Nature ConservancyUC Photos gallery − ''Tuctoria mucronata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7851182 Chloridoideae Native grasses of California Endemic flora of California Bunchgrasses of North America Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of Solano County, California Critically endangered flora of California