Neostapfia is a genus of endemic Californian bunchgrasses, in the subfamily Chloridoideae of the grass family, Poaceae.[3][1][4][5][6] The only known species is Neostapfia colusana, with the common name Colusa grass.[1]
Neostapfia colusana is endemic to the Central Valley of California, in the northern section's Sacramento Valley and in the southern section's San Joaquin Valley.[1] The bunchgrass grows in vernal pools, which are seasonal shallow freshwater ponds.
It is native to the Central Valley counties of Glenn, Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Stanislaus, and Merced.[7][8]
This rare grass is a federally listed threatened species in the United States.[9][3]
Neostapfia colusana is a clumping bunchgrass with distinctive cylindrical inflorescences covered in flat spikelets. The inflorescences are said to resemble tiny ears of corn. They fruit in grains 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.
The plant is limited to vernal pool habitats, a type of ecosystem that is increasingly rare as Central Valley land is consumed by development and agriculture, and damaged by flood-control regimens and other alterations of hydrology.[10]
Neostapfia is a genus of endemic Californian bunchgrasses, in the subfamily Chloridoideae of the grass family, Poaceae. The only known species is Neostapfia colusana, with the common name Colusa grass.
