Sonoma Alopecurus
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office
Species Account
SONOMA ALOPECURUS
(Alopecurus aequalis var. sonomensis)
CLASSIFICATION: Federal Endangered Species(Federal Register 62-54791 pdf; October 22, 1997)
CRITICAL HABITAT: None designated.
RECOVERY PLAN: Recovery Plan for Coastal Plants (under development)
DESCRIPTION:
Sonoma alopecurus (Alopecurus aequalis var. sonomensis) is a tufted, perennial member of the grass family (Poaceae). It is a variety of shortawn foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis), and it has the alternate name of Sonoma shortawn foxtail. The plant reaches 12 to 30 inches in height. Leaf blades are up to 0.3 inch wide and the stems are mostly straight or weakly bent near the base. Spikelets are usually violet-gray near the tip. The awn (bristle-like part) is straight, and exceeds the lemma (the bracts that enclose the awn) by 0.04 to 0.1 inch.
Flowers bloom from May to July. Panicles (branching flower clusters) are 1 to 3.5 inches long and 0.1 to 0.3 inch wide.
Sonoma alopecurus may be difficult to distinguish from other varieties of the species. It is distinguished from Alopecurus aequalis var. aequalis by the violet-gray spikes, more upright appearance and generally wider panicle. See Hickman (1993) for a detailed description of the species Alopecurus aequalis.
DISTRIBUTION:
Sonoma alopecurus is found in moist soils in freshwater marshes in Sonoma and Marin counties. Eleven populations of the species have been extirpated. Eight natural are currently believed to remain. Three are on private property in Sonoma County, five at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, including one on private land within the Seashore.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
This species is declining due to loss of wetland habitat, competition from nonnative plant species, trampling and grazing by cattle and low reproductive success. Three attempts to reintroduce the species in the National Seashore have failed.
The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range). Although the species has not been officially listed by the State of California, the Department of Fish and Game considers it to be "very threatened."
REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Hitchcock, A. S. 1971. Manual of the Grasses of the United States. 2nd Edition, Dover Press.
Rubtzoff, P.. 1961. Notes on Freshwater Marsh and Aquatic Plants in California-II. Leaflets of Western Botany. Vol. IX, p. 165-180.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1997. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for Nine Plants From the Grasslands or Mesic Areas of the Central Coast of California. Portland, Oregon.
General Information about California Plants
Photo credit: Sonoma Alopecurus © 2001 Doreen L. Smith Calphoto ID: 0000 0000 0602 0049
Prepared by Endangered
Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife
Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
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