''Neostapfia'' is a genus of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennia ...

es, in the subfamily

Chloridoideae Chloridoideae is one of the largest subfamily, subfamilies of Poaceae, grasses, with roughly 150 genera and 1,600 species, mainly found in arid tropical or subtropical grasslands. Within the PACMAD clade, their sister group is the Danthonioideae. ...

of the grass family,

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

.USDA: ''Neostapfia colusana''
/ref> The only known species is ''Neostapfia colusana'', with the common name Colusa grass.

Distribution

''Neostapfia colusana'' is

to the Central Valley of

, in the northern section's

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

and in the southern section's

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. The bunchgrass grows in

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 saf ...

s, which are seasonal shallow freshwater ponds. It is native to the Central Valley counties of

Glenn Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement i ...

, Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Stanislaus, and

Merced Merced (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

. This rare grass is a federally listed

threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

in the United States.

Description

''Neostapfia colusana'' is a clumping

with distinctive cylindrical

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s covered in flat

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences 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 sp ...

s. The inflorescences are said to resemble tiny ears of corn. They fruit in

grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and le ...

covered in a gluey secretion, and when a plant is mature, each clump becomes brown and sticky with the exudate. The genus was named for botanist Otto Stapf.

Conservation

The plant is limited to

habitats, a type of ecosystem that is increasingly rare as Central Valley land is consumed by development and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and damaged by flood-control regimens and other alterations of hydrology.California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
/ref>

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Neostapfia colusana'' (Colusa grass, Colusagrass)Jepson eFlora (JM2): ''Neostapfia colusana''Grass Manual Profile: ''Neostapfia''The Nature Conservancy — ''Neostapfia colusana''UC Photos gallery — ''Neostapfia colusana''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2178044, from2=Q21649769 Chloridoideae Endemic flora of California Native grasses of California Bunchgrasses of North America Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Monotypic Poaceae genera Taxa named by Joseph Burtt Davy