Key to Herbaceous Vegetation in California
- 1.
Terrestrial herbaceous vegetation of both cismontane and transmontane California, exclusive of permanently wet sites and of high elevation mountains in the cismontane California
- 2.
Stands of perennial plants adapted to sand and salt spray along the Pacific Coast on bluffs and beaches; cover low (<10% total cover)
- 3.
Stands of mostly native species—dune mat
- Abronia latifolia—Ambrosia chamissonis alliance
- Carex pansa provisional alliance
- Festuca rubra alliance
- Grindelia (stricta) provisional alliance
- Leymus mollis alliance
- 3′.
Stands dominated strongly (>90% relative cover) by non-native species
- Ammophila arenaria semi-natural stands
- Cakile (edentula, maritima) semi-natural stands
- Carpobrotus (edentula, chilensis) semi-natural stands
- 2′
Stands of annual and perennial plants adapted to conditions inland from the Pacific Coast, not directly on coastal dunes, but they can be on coastal bluffs and terraces inland from salt spray
- 4.
Stands of vernally (not permanently) moist to wet ground, existing due to some augmentation of ambient soil moisture collecting in intermittently wet ponds, lake margins, pools, seeps, swales, etc.
- 5.
Stands of largely short annual plants—vernal pools, seeps, swales, and plains
- Alopecurus geniculatus provisional alliance
- Centromadia (pungens) alliance
- Cressa truxillensis—Distichlis spicata alliance
- Deinandra (fasciculata) alliance
- Eleocharis acicularis alliance
- Eleocharis macrostachya alliance
- Eryngium aristulatum alliance
- Lasthenia californica—Plantago erecta—Vulpia microstachys alliance
- Lasthenia fremontii—Distichlis spicata alliance
- Lasthenia fremontii—Downingia (bicornuta) alliance
- Lasthenia glaberrima alliance
- Layia fremontii—Achyrachaena mollis alliance
- Montia fontana—Sidalcea calycosa alliance
- Trifolium variegatum alliance
- 5′.
Stands of tall annual or perennial plants of reservoir margins, seasonal ponds, mesic meadows, disturbed or managed wetlands
- Ambrosia psilostachya provisional alliance
- Grindelia (stricta) provisional alliance
- Lotus purshianus provisional alliance
- Persicaria (lapathifolia)—Xanthium strumarium alliance
- 4′.
Stands of desert to cool mesic settings, not tied to water collecting in intermittent ponds, lake margins, pools, seeps, swales, etc.
- 6.
Stands on upland alluvial fans, badlands, desert pavement, sand dunes, hills and flats, and extensive rock outcrops, particularly in transmontane California—desert and semi-desert herbaceous vegetation
- 7.
Stands in the Colorado and Sonoran deserts and at low elevations in the Mojave Desert
- Dicoria canescens—Abronia villosa alliance
- Panicum urvilleanum alliance
- Pleuraphis rigida alliance
- Swallenia alexandrae special stands
- Tidestromia oblongifolia provisional alliance*
- 7′.
Stands in the Great Basin, at the Mojave Desert at higher elevations, or the San Joaquin Valley on dry sandy soils or the inner coast ranges on various surfaces
- Achnatherum hymenoides alliance
- Achnatherum speciosum alliance
- Agropyron cristatum semi-natural stands
- Pleuraphis jamesii alliance
- Poa secunda alliance
- Pseudoroegneria spicata alliance
- 6′.
Stands on various surfaces but not restricted to upland badlands, desert pavement, sand dunes, and other rocky environments, particularly in cismontane California
- 8.
Native plants are diagnostically present and sometimes with high cover; non-native plants frequently present at high cover (< 95% relative cover)
- 9.
Native annual plants diagnostically present and sometimes with high cover—annual grasslands and herblands
- Amsinckia (menziesii, tessellata) alliance
- Bromus (diandrus, hordeaceus)—Brachypodium distachyon semi-natural stands
- Bromus rubens—Schismus (arabicus, barbatus) semi-natural stands
- Bromus tectorum semi-natural stands
- Cistanthe (umbellata)—Gayophytum (diffusum) alliance
- Cynosurus echinatus semi-natural stands
- Eschscholzia (californica) alliance
- Lasthenia californica—Plantago erecta—Vulpia microstachys alliance
- Lotus purshianus provisional alliance
- Plagiobothrys nothofulvus alliance
- Trifolium variegatum alliance
- 9′.
Native plants diagnostically present with > 10% relative cover; non-native annual plants may be present at high cover—perennial grasslands and herblands
- 10.
Stands of cool and foggy coastal bluffs, headlands, and seeps along the central and northern coasts—coastal prairie
- Calamagrostis nutkaensis alliance
- Danthonia californica alliance
- Deschampsia cespitosa Alliance
- Festuca idahoensis alliance
- Festuca rubra alliance
- Holcus lanatus—Anthoxanthum odoratum semi-natural stands
- 10′.
Stands of cool coastal to drier interior climates of cismontane California, especially in the central and southern coasts and foothills
- 11.
Stands of upland settings, including valleys, foothills, and rocky outcrops
- Aristida purpurea provisional alliance
- Elymus multisetus provisional alliance
- Elymus glaucus provisional alliance
- Festuca idahoensis alliance
- Leymus condensatus alliance
- Melica torreyana provisional alliance
- Nassella cernua provisional alliance
- Nassella lepida provisional alliance
- Nassella pulchra alliance
- Poa secunda alliance
- Sedum spathulatum provisional alliance
- Selaginella bigelovii alliance
- 11′.
Stands of wetter settings, bottomlands, intermittently and seasonally flooded meadows, moist draws, and stream terraces
- Artemisia dracunculus alliance
- Carex douglasii provisional alliance
- Hordeum brachyantherum alliance
- Lotus purshianus provisional alliance
- Leymus cinereus alliance
- Leymus triticoides alliance
- Lolium perenne semi-natural stands
- Muhlenbergia rigens alliance
- 8′.
Stands strongly dominated by non-natives, lacking evenly distributed diagnostic natives (usually < 5% relative cover)
- 12.
Stands strongly dominated by annual or short-lived plants, some included in California annual grassland settings
- Aegilops triuncialis provisional semi-natural stands
- Avena (barbata, fatua) semi-natural stands
- Brassica (nigra) and other mustards semi-natural stands
- Conium maculatum—Foeniculum vulgare semi-natural stands
- Bromus (diandrus, hordeaceus)—Brachypodium distachyon semi-natural stands
- Bromus rubens—Schismus (arabicus, barbatus) semi-natural stands
- Centaurea (solstitialis, meletensis) semi-natural stands
- Cynosurus echinatus semi-natural stands
- Lolium perenne semi-natural stands
- 12′.
Stands strongly dominated by perennial plants
- Agrostis gigantea, stolonifera)—Festuca arundinacea semi-natural stands
- Cortaderia jubata, selloana) semi-natural stands
- Holcus lanatus—Anthoxanthum odoratum semi-natural stands
- Pennisetum setaceum semi-natural stands
- Phalaris aquatica semi-natural stands
- Poa pratensis semi-natural stands
- 1′.
Terrestrial herbaceous vegetation of higher elevation mountains or aquatic and permanently wet vegetation
- 13.
Stands from coastal to montane elevations in fens and similar wet meadows that remain saturated for the entire summer or stands of other wetlands, turfs, snow banks, fell-fields, exposed slopes, rocky outcrops, and crevices at montane to alpine elevations
- 14.
Stands in fens and similar wet meadows; many stands have abundant moss growth on the ground surface
- Bistorta bistortoides—Mimulus primuloides alliance
- Camassia quamash alliance
- Carex (aquatilis, lenticularis) alliance
- Carex echinata alliance
- Carex lasiocarpa provisional alliance
- Carex limosa alliance
- Carex simulata alliance
- Carex (utriculata, vesicaria) alliance
- Darlingtonia californica alliance
- Eleocharis quinqueflora alliance
- Juncus nevadensis alliance
- Kobresia myosuroides alliance
- Muhlenbergia filiformis provisional alliance
- Triantha occidentalis—Narthecium californicum alliance
- 14′.
Stands not in fens and similar wet meadows; stands lack abundant moss growth on the ground surface
- 15.
Stands in higher mountain wet meadows and other wetlands, along pond or lake margins, and along perennial streams
- Bistorta bistortoides—Mimulus primuloides alliance
- Camassia quamash alliance
- Carex (aquatilis, lenticularis) alliance
- Carex nigricans provisional alliance
- Carex scopulorum alliance
- Carex (utriculata, vesicaria) alliance
- Dulichium arundinaceum provisional alliance
- Eleocharis quinqueflora alliance
- Glyceria elata, striata) alliance
- Glyceria occidentalis provisional alliance
- Oxypolis occidentalis alliance
- Senecio triangularis alliance
- Torreyochloa pauciflora alliance
- 15′.
Stands at montane to alpine elevations with soils not saturated throughout the growing season
- 16.
Stands of low topographic settings; mesic meadows typically saturated by spring or early summer snowmelt
- 17.
Stands dominated by sedges
- Carex heteroneura provisional alliance
- Carex integra provisional alliance
- Carex jonesii alliance
- Carex lasiocarpa provisional alliance
- Carex luzulina provisional alliance
- Carex microptera alliance
- Carex nebrascensis alliance
- Carex simulata alliance
- Carex straminiformis provisional alliance
- Carex subnigricans alliance
- 17′.
Stands dominated by herbaceous plants other than sedges
- Alopecurus geniculatus provisional alliance
- Danthonia californica alliance
- Deschampsia cespitosa alliance
- Eleocharis acicularis alliance
- Iris missouriensis provisional alliance
- Juncus arcticus (var. balticus, mexicanus) alliance
- Juncus nevadensis alliance
- Muhlenbergia filiformis provisional alliance
- Muhlenbergia richardsonis provisional alliance
- Poa pratensis semi-natural stands
- Senecio triangularis alliance
- Solidago canadensis provisional alliance
- Trifolium longipes provisional alliance
- Veratrum californicum alliance
- 16′.
Stands of upland topographic settings; moist to dry meadows, rocky outcrops, and alpine environments
- 18.
Stands at montane and lower-subalpine elevations below treeline
- 19.
Stands dominated by natives in montane meadows or rock crevices
- 20.
Stands largely of moist to drying mountain meadows
- Carex filifolia alliance
- Carex heteroneura provisional alliance
- Calamagrostis canadensis alliance
- Cistanthe Gayophytum (diffusum) alliance
- Danthonia intermedia provisional alliance
- Hordeum brachyantherum alliance
- Penstemon heterodoxus provisional alliance
- Poa secunda alliance
- Muhlenbergia richardsonis provisional alliance
- Ptilagrostis kingii alliance
- 20′.
Stands of rock outcrops and crevices
- Holodiscus discolor alliance*
- Juncus parryi alliance
- Penstemon heterodoxus provisional alliance
- Penstemon newberryi alliance
- Phyllodoce breweri alliance*
- Phyllodoce empetriformis provisional alliance*
- 19′.
Stands dominated by non-natives
- Bromus tectorum semi-natural stands
- Centaurea (virgata and other knapweeds) provisional semi-natural stands
- 18′.
Stands at alpine elevations or of upper-subalpine meadows below treeline
- 21.
Stands of seasonally wet meadows and turfs; characteristic species may be woody but very short and creeping
- Calamagrostis muiriana alliance
- Carex breweri alliance
- Carex filifolia alliance
- Carex subnigricans alliance
- Festuca brachyphylla alliance
- Kobresia myosuroides alliance
- Ptilagrostis kingii alliance
- Salix nivalis provisional alliance*
- Salix petrophila alliance*
- Vaccinium cespitosum alliance*
- 21′.
Stands of steep, rocky slopes, or snow banks
- 22.
Stands adjacent to long-persisting snow banks
- Carex breweri alliance
- Carex helleri alliance
- Carex spectabilis alliance
- Cassiope mertensiana provisional alliance
- Oxyria digyna alliance
- Saxifraga nidifica provisional alliance
- Saxifraga tolmiei provisional alliance
- 22′.
Stands of steep to gentle rocky slopes, usually associated with short-persisting snow including fell-fields and exposed slopes
- Calamagrostis purpurascens alliance
- Carex congdonii provisional alliance
- Ericameria discoidea—Hulsea algida alliance
- Phlox covillei ) alliance
- Phlox pulvinata alliance
- 13′.
Stands of permanent or seasonal wetlands with brackish, freshwater or saline soils at lower elevations
- 23.
Stands contain floating or submerged, not emergent plants
- Azolla (filiculoides, mexicana) provisional alliance
- Lemna (minor) and relatives alliance
- Hydrocotyle (ranunculoides, umbellata) provisional alliance
- Isoetes spp. provisional alliance
- Ludwigia (hexapetala, peploides) provisional semi-natural stands
- Nuphar lutea provisional alliance
- Persicaria (lapathifolia)—Xanthium strumarium provisional alliance
- Ruppia (cirrhosa, maritima) alliance
- Sparganium (angustifolium) alliance
- Stuckenia (pectinata)—Potamogeton spp. alliance
- 23′.
Stands of emergent plants
- 24.
Stands of freshwater wetlands, seeps, or riparian wetlands
- 25.
Stands of tall emergent plants (usually > 2 m) of marshes, seeps, riparian, and other wetland areas
- Arundo donax semi-natural stands
- Phragmites australis alliance
- Schoenoplectus acutus alliance
- Schoenoplectus californicus alliance
- Typha (angustifolia, latifolia, domingensis) alliance
- 25′.
Stands of shorter plants (usually < 2 m) in marshes, seeps, riparian, and other wetland areas
- 26.
Stands usually close to the coasts in central and northern California
- Agrostis ) -Festuca arundinacea semi-natural stands
- Argentina anserina alliance
- Carex pansa provisional alliance
- Carex obnupta alliance
- Juncus effusus alliance
- Juncus lescurii alliance
- Juncus (oxymeris, xiphioides) provisional alliance
- Juncus patens provisional alliance
- Oenanthe sarmentosa alliance
- Scirpus microcarpus alliance
- 26′.
Stands usually inland from the coasts in southern to northern California
- 27.
Stands with native plants dominant or characteristic (> 5% relative cover by natives)
- Carex barbarae provisional alliance
- Carex densa provisional alliance
- Carex nudata alliance
- Carex serratodens provisional alliance
- Cirsium fontinale alliance
- Juncus arcticus (var. balticus, mexicanus) alliance
- Juncus effusus alliance
- Juncus (oxymeris, xiphioides) provisional alliance
- Leymus triticoides alliance
- Mimulus ) alliance
- Muhlenbergia rigens alliance
- Persicaria (lapathifolia)—Xanthium strumarium provisional alliance
- 27′.
Stands with non-native plants strongly dominant (> 95% relative cover by non-natives)
- Lepidium latifolium semi-natural stands
- Ludwigia (hexapetala, peploides) semi-natural stands
- 24′.
Stands in wetlands with alkaline or saline soils
- 28.
Plants primarily of recently disturbed tidal salt marshes or inland alkaline marshes
- Atriplex prostrata—Cotula coronopifolia semi-natural stands
- Sesuvium verrucosum alliance
- 28′.
Plants primarily of mature tidal salt marshes or inland alkaline marshes or seeps or diked wetlands
- 29.
Plants in regularly flooded tidal salt marshes in the low marsh zone, and not usually of interior wetlands or southern coastal marshes
- Bolboschoenus maritimus alliance
- Distichlis spicata alliance
- Sarcocornia pacifica (Salicornia depressa) alliance
- Spartina (alterniflora, densiflora) semi-natural stands
- Spartina foliosa alliance
- 29′.
Plants primarily of alkaline marshes or seeps, often of the interior, but also in high salt marshes in the coast where evaporative salts are concentrated and tidal flooding is intermittent
- 30.
Stands mostly in alkaline brackish marshes, meadows, or seeps
- Anemopsis californica provisional alliance
- Carex douglasii provisional alliance
- Distichlis spicata alliance
- Juncus cooperi alliance
- Leymus cinereus alliance
- Leymus triticoides alliance
- Schoenoplectus acutus alliance
- Schoenoplectus americanus alliance
- Schoenoplectus californicus alliance
- Spartina gracilis alliance
- Sporobolus airoides alliance
- Typha (angustifolia, latifolia, domingensis) alliance
- 30′.
Stands mostly in high tidal marshes with high salt concentration or of interior alkaline depressions in central and southern California; plants may be perennials and woody at the base
- Arthrocnemum subterminale alliance
- Cressa truxillensis—Distichlis spicata alliance
- Distichlis spicata alliance
- Frankenia salina alliance
- Grindelia (stricta) provisional alliance
- Lasthenia fremontii—Distichlis spicata alliance
- Sarcocornia pacifica (Salicornia depressa) alliance
- Suaeda moquinii alliance*
*Treated in the shrub alliance description
