Poa thomasii Refulio (2012:130)
Catalina grass, California dissanthelium
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Stenochloa californica Nutt. in J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, ser. 2, 1: 189 (1848); Dissanthelium californicum (Nutt.) Benth. in Hooker's Icon. Pl. 14: t. 1375 (1881)
Conservation Status
Last record: 1875 (Guadalupe Island, Mexico) (O'Brien et al., 2025:196); 1912 (Channel Islands, California) (Ripley, 1975:45; Smith & York, 1984:2)
Rediscovered in: 2005 (Santa Catalina Island); 2010 (San Clemente Island)
Was listed as Extinct by (WCMC, 1992:224).
Distribution & Habitat
Guadalupe island, Mexico & Channel Islands (Catalina Island & San Clemente Island), California, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Refulio-Rodriguez, Nancy F., Columbus, Travis, Gillespie, Lynn J., Peterson, Paul M. and Soreng, Robert J. (2012). Molecular Phylogeny of Dissanthelium (Poaceae: Pooideae) and its Taxonomic Implications. Systematic Botany 37(1): 122-133. https://doi.org/10.1600/036364412X616701
Other references:
Espejo Serna, A., López-Ferrari, A. R. and Valdés-Reyna, J. (2000). Poaceae. In: Monocotiledóneas Mexicanas: una Sinopsis Florística 10: 7-236 [and index].
Gould, F. W. and Moran, R. (1981). The grasses of Baja California, Mexico. Memoir San Diego Society of Natural History 12: 1-140.
Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]
Moran, R. (1996). The flora of Guadalupe island, Mexico. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 19: 1-190.
Nuttall, T. (1848). Descriptions of plants collected by William Gambel,M. D. in the Rocky Mountains and upper California. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1: 149-189.
O'Brien, Bart C., Rebman, Jon P., Delgadillo-Rodríguez, José, Gandhi, Kanchi Natarajan, Junak, Steven A., Oberbauer, Thomas A., Riemann, Hugo and Vanderplank, Sula E. (2025). The Rare, Endangered and Endemic Plants of the California Floristic Province Portion of Baja California, Mexico. Aliso 43(2): 77-217. https://doi.org/10.5642/aliso.YOAJ6071
POWO. (2026). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 13 February 2026]
Ripley, S. Dillon. (1975). Report on endangered and threatened species of the United States. House Document 94-51: 1-200 [45].
Smith, James Payne, Jnr. (ed.) and York, Richard (DEM). (1984). Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California. Special Publication No. 1 (3rd edition). Berkeley, California: California Native Plant Society. xviii + 174 pp.
Swallen, J. R. and Tovar, O. (1965). The grass genus Dissanthelium. Phytologia 11(6): 361-376.
U.D.D.I. Fish and Wildlife Service (1985). Review of plant taxa for listing as endangered or threatened species; notice of review. Federal Register 50(188): 1-39.
Walter, Kerry S. and Gillett, Harriet J. (eds.). (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK: IUCN – The World Conservation Union. lxiv + 862 pp.
WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). (1992). Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's living resources. London: Chapman & Hall. xx + 594 pp.
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