Home    Family Index    Species Index    Glossary

Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt.                Bear Grass; Squaw Grass

Flowers white, tiny, tepals 6-8 mm, arranged in a dense, long, raceme up to 5 dm at maturity; flower stalk up to almost 2 m, many leaves; basal leaves numerous in large clumps, 1.5-8 dm tall, tough, wiry; rhizome thick.  Along ocean from sea level to subalpine meadows in the Olympic Mountains and in the Cascades; open woods and hillsides, many in large patches.

xerophyllum_tenax_habit1.jpg (101209 bytes)    xerophyllum_tenax_fl1.jpg (66098 bytes)