Howell's_alkali_grass
Puccinellia howellii
Species of grass
Puccinellia howellii is a rare species of grass known by the common name Howell's alkaligrass.[1] It is endemic to Shasta County, California, where it is known from a single population in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area near Whiskeytown. Its entire population is contained in a 1-acre (4,000 m2) complex of three saline mineral springs directly next to Highway 299.[2] The grass was first described to science in 1990[3] and no other populations were discovered despite extensive searches of the area.[4]
The hillsides surrounding the salt springs where the rare grass grows burned in the 2018 Carr Fire. However the bare, wet gravel slopes of the springs were largely unburned and the Puccinellia population persists.