Hairy Orcutt  Grass
See photo info below

Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office
Species Account

HAIRY ORCUTT GRASS
(Orcuttia pilosa)

CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 62:14338 (pdf); March 26, 1997).

This species was listed as endangered by the California Department of Fish and Game in September 1979. The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).

CRITICAL HABITAT: Originally designated in Federal Register 68:46683 pdf; August 6, 2003.
The designation was revised in 70:46923 pdf; August 11, 2005. Species by unit designations were published in 71:7117 (pdf) February 10, 2006.

RECOVERY PLAN: Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon

DESCRIPTION:

Hairy Orcutt grass (Orcuttia pilosa) is a small, tufted annual in the grass family (Poaceae). The plant has several stems 2-8 inches tall, each stem ending in a long, spike-like inflorescence. Foliage is grayish, with soft, straight hairs. 

This species and slender Orcutt grass (O. tenuis) grow together over a portion of their respective ranges but are readily distinguished. Slender Orcutt grass has fairly slender stems that often branch from their upper nodes. Spikelets are evenly spaced, not densely crowded. Hairy Orcutt grass stems branch only from lower nodes. Upper spikelets are densely crowded. As the species' name implies, it has more hairs. See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants below.

DISTRIBUTION:

Hairy Orcutt grass inhabits vernal pools in rolling topography on remnant alluvial fans and stream terraces in the Central Valley. The historical range includes the eastern margins of Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys from Tehama County south to Stanislaus County and through Merced and Madera counties.

Currently, the main area of concentration for Orcuttia pilosa is the Vina Plains in Tehama County, which is in the Northeastern Sacramento Valley Vernal Pool Region. An isolated occurrence in central Butte County is in the same region. Eleven occurrences are in the Southern Sierra Foothills Vernal Pool Region, including nine in Madera County between the City of Madera and Millerton Lake, and two in eastern Stanislaus County. All six extant occurrences in the Solano-Colusa Vernal Pool Region are on the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in Glenn County

THREATS:

Agricultural and residential developments, and planning for such, are proceeding in the vicinity of the remaining Stanislaus and Madera County occurrences and may lead to the destruction of additional populations in the foreseeable future. Also, competition from invasive plants is believed to be an increasing problem throughout the range of the species.

Many extant hairy Orcutt grass sites are grazed. Livestock grazing and associated trampling may or may not adversely affect vernal pool plants depending on, among other things, the kind of livestock, stocking level, season of use and grazing duration. The intensity and, more importantly, the timing of this activity affect how livestock grazing may adversely impact vernal pool plants.

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1997. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for Three Plants and Threatened Status for Five Plants From Vernal Pools in the Central Valley of California. (pdf) Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2003. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Designation of Critical Habitat for Four Vernal Pool Crustaceans and Eleven Vernal Pool Plants in California and Southern Oregon Vernal pool crustaceans and plants in California and Oregon. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Designation of Critical Habitat for Four Vernal Pool Crustaceans and Eleven Vernal Pool Plants in California and Southern Oregon; Evaluation of Economic Exclusions From August 2003 Final Designation; Final Rule. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2006. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Designation of Critical Habitat for Four Vernal Pool Crustaceans and Eleven Vernal Pool Plants; Final Rule. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon. Portland, Oregon.

General Information about California Plants

Photo credit: Hairy Orcutt Grass © 2003 George W. Hartwell Calphoto ID: 0000 0000 0603 0570

Prepared by Endangered Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service