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Home | Plant Communities | Valley Grassland

This community encompasses a number of perennial bunch grasses as well as many of our common wildflowers. The California Poppy grows here, along with blue-eyed grass, lupines and many plants from the aster family. This habitat is found in the Great Central Valley and the low hot valleys of the inner Coast Ranges such as Antelope Valley, and ascending to about 4,000 feet in the Tehachapi Mountains and eastern San Diego County. The growing season is 7 to 11 months, and 6" - 20" of rain falls annually.

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California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica; Poppy Family

• California's state flower
• in summer, the beautiful orange blossoms blanket hillsides and meadows
• an herb, with stems up to 2 feet long. The leaves are divided into narrow segments. The flower is made up of 4 satiny, bright orange petals up to 2.5" long which close up in the evening
• seed pod is long and narrow, and upon maturity opens abruptly, scattering the seeds some distance
• leaves were used by Native Americans for toothaches and as a mild sedative for babies
• flowers and leaves were boiled and eaten
• women used the pollen from the flower as a cosmetic
• extract from the California poppy acts as a mild sedative when smoked. The effect is far milder than that of opium, which contains a different class of alkaloids

Bunch Grasses

Nassella; Grass Family

• perennial grasses
• grow in clumps instead of being scattered evenly. This helps the grasses to survive fires, as the roots and underground stems are able to resprout after the leaves get burned

Wild Hyacinth

Dichelostemma capitatum; Lily Family

• violet or purple-flowered plant that grows from a deep-seated bulb
• funnel-shaped flowers grow on top of a single stiff stem
• leaves usually wither before the flower appears from March to May
• the bulbs of this plant were a major food source for Miwok Native Americans, eaten raw, fried, boiled or roasted

Elegant Clarkia

Clarkia unguiculata; Evening Primrose Family

• Common name “Farewell-To-Spring”
• an erect annual with slender to stout stems which can be simple or branched
• red, pink, salmon, or purple flowers are 1/2- to 1-inch long with a slender claw almost half of its length
• blooms May-June

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium californica; Sunflower Family

• perennial herb
• finely dissected leaves
• flat clusters of small white-headed flowers bloom March-June
• Native Americans steeped Yarrow leaves in hot water to prepare a potion for decreasing bleeding from wounds