Muhlenbergia rigens
Deergrass is a large perennial bunchgrass that does well in sandy or well drained soils. In California, it grows primarily in the coast ranges of central and southern California, the Sierra and Cascade foothills, and the eastern part of the North Coast range. The plant is characterized by dense, tufted basal foliage consisting of narrow pointed leaves that reach lengths of about 3 feet and range in color from light silver-green to purple. The spike-like stems are less than half an inch wide and 3 to 4 feet in length. During bloom, the numerous flower bunches often reach heights of five feet. Deergrass is characteristic of tallgrass prairie of much of the Western United States. It inhabits a wide range of ecotypes including grassland, riparian, chaparral, mixed conifer, and oak woodland communities. Deergrass is one of the most beautiful and probably the easiest to grow of all the native California bunchgrasses, typically reaching mature size in one or two years. It prefers sandy or gravelly soils, but does OK in almost any soil as long as it’s well drained. It can handle fairly frequent summer water (up to 1x per week), but once mature, it really doesn’t need any supplementary water. It prefers full sun or part shade, but handles full shade reasonably well – it just grows more slowly.