Description

This little bunch grass is one of the most common grasses in shady settings in the SF Bay Area. It often colonizes trail sides, so it is easy to find. It has an upright form of soft blades and maintains its structure throughout the year (it does not sprawl as some grasses do). The arching flower stalks produce rows of oval grains in the summer time. In the wild, the melic grasses tend to go dormant with the heat of summer. They are revived by the cool weather and early rains of fall. Torrey’s melic grass may be kept green with summer water. It does require a shady setting away from the coast. While it produces an abundance of seed, Torrey’s melic grass is not very weedy, though the patch may need to be thinned from time to time.