Orcuttia
| Orcuttia | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Orcuttia tenuis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Tribe: | Orcuttieae |
| Genus: |
Orcuttia Vasey |
| Type species | |
|
Orcuttia californica Vasey |
|
| Species | |
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see text |
|
see text
Orcuttia is a genus of grass in the family Poaceae. Plants grow up to 20 cm (8 in) tall, usually with many stems emerging from the base of the plant, and forming a tuft. The spikelets (groups of flowers) are several-flowered, with reduced upper florets. The lemma tips have between two and five teeth.
Described in 1886, the genus contains five species native to California and Baja California. All plants are associated with vernal pools. Plants sprout when the pools are full but grow and flower after the pool bed has dried. These annual grasses, known generally as Orcutt grass, are all rare and federally protected in the United States.
Orcuttia was circumscribed by George Vasey in 1886, based on a collection of O. californica made by Californian botanist Charles Russell Orcutt, for whom the genus is named. The type locality was near San Quintin Bay in Baja California.O. californica was not collected again until 1922.Orcuttia greenei was described by Vasey in 1891 from collections near Chico, Butte county, but it was later transferred to Tuctoria (an anagram of Orcuttia). Hoover surveyed the genus in 1941.Orcuttia is the type genus of the tribe Orcuttieae, which also includes Tuctoria and the monotypic genus Neostapfia.
Orcuttia species are annual plants with fibrous roots, and, in maturity, they produce leaves that are sticky and aromatic (similar to lemon). The odour may deter predation by insects and rodents, and the sticky coating may reduce desiccation. Elongated juvenile leaves are produced before the culm (stems). The culms have a pithy interior, and stand erect to ascending (rising upwards) to decumbent (lying along the ground with the tip ascending), and occasionally become prostrate (lying trailing along the ground). The leaves feature little or no differentiation into sheath and blade; as the grass dries, the blade portion either remains flat or rolls inward. The plants grow in tufts, with culms reaching a height of up to 20 cm (7.9 in), in the case of O. pilosa.
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