California Semaphore Grass (Pleuropogon californicus) is an endemic grass species to California. There are two varieties: 1) P.c. var. californicus, and 2) P.c. var. davyi, with the latteer being the more restricted where it is only known from vernal pools, sloughs, and marshy grasslands in Mendocino and Lake counties. Plants were collected at the UC-HREC by Al Murphy in 1952, but apparently the population disappeared from the Center during the subsequent decades.
In the fall of 2009 seed from another population near Hopland was collected and planted at two locations at HREC, where it still persists, but in limited numbers. HREC would be an ideal site location to expand the population in the Hopland area, but it would take some funding, time, and effort to do so.
