hairyleaf fescue & hairy fescue, Vulpia microstachys var. pauciflora & V. m. var. ciliata, April–May, Native

These annuals can form locally open, airy forests to about 25 cm tall, on serpentine and other thin soils. They have a less-threatening aspect than most of their naturalized relatives, whose inflorescences usually appear congested, lemmas bristling with awns. One of those related taxa, Vulpia myuros var. hirsuta (formerly V. megalura), which also grows on the Preserve, was first recognized only a few decades ago as not native, as it was earlier believed. (R.I. Lonard and F.W. Gould. “The North American Species of Vulpia,” 22 Madroño, 1974: 217-230.) As a result, some researchers proposed that annual forbs filled the interstitial spaces of perennial grasslands (as we see today on the Preserve’s serpentine), because there seem few other common native annual grass candidates.

The varieties of V. microtachys have an enlargement in the inflorescence branch axils that cause the branches to reflex in flower. Observing these pulvini, often reddish, requires a hand lens for most people. A more easily observable field character of V. microtachys is the angle formed between the lowest inflorescence branch relative to the upper branches: when viewed from above this feature is striking, the planes formed by the branches are 90+ degrees.

Photo right by Toni Corelli, May 14, 2006. Vulpia microstachys var. pauciflora center and right. Bromus madritensis var. madritensis is lower left in photo.

Name: For J.S. Vulpius, German botanist | small spike-like | few-flowered.