Torrey’s melic flowering spike rising above a forest-floor clump. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Melica torreyana, commonly called Torrey’s melic or Torrey’s melicgrass, is
Sand blossoms blanketing a gravelly flat in the Owens Valley drainage. Photo: Jim Morefield / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Linanthus parryae, commonly called sand
Nodding needlegrass showing the long, drooping awns that give the species its common name. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Nassella cernua (formerly classified as
Common muilla’s umbel of small, star-shaped white flowers on wiry stalks. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) Muilla maritima, known as common muilla or sea
Coast melic’s slender, open flowering stalk rising above its fine-leaved tufts. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) Melica imperfecta, known as coast melic or small-flowered melic,
Trailing ratany sprawling across rocky gravel soil, its favored habitat. Photo: Patrick Alexander, Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Krameria lanceolata, known as Trailing Ratany, Texas Ratany, or
Green sprangletop’s narrow, purple-tinged seed spikes catch the light in late summer. Photo: Patrick Alexander, Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Leptochloa dubia, commonly known as Green Sprangletop
Common rush forms a tidy, upright clump of blue-green stems. Photo: Daderot, Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Juncus patens, commonly called Common Rush, Spreading Rush, or California
A flower head of brown-headed rush, photographed in coastal dunes near Point Reyes. Photo: Robert Steers/NPS, Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Juncus phaeocephalus, known as Brown-headed Rush
Beardless wildrye forming a dense, sod-like stand in a western valley meadow. Photo: Matt Lavin, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Leymus triticoides, known as Beardless
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