WHY IS A DROP IN PERENNIAL NATIVE GRASSES IMPORTANT?
Those grasses are part of every California native ecosystem, and are useful as indicator species, measuring the overall health of your ecosystem. Plus, every exotic grass that invades a natural area, as it grows, gives off natural herbicides that kills off the native grasses as well as the herbaceous perennials and native annuals. The first to get killed are the perennial grasses and some of the perennial wildflowers like Grindelia, California poppies, Coyote mint, Mule’s Ears, Shooting Stars, Calochortus and Brodiaea lilies. Then in the later stages, the annual wildflowers disappear, like the Indian paintbrush, owls’ clover, miner’s lettuce, the native clovers, and the annual lupines. Whenever any exotic grass is allowed to invade a natural area, there’s going to be death and destruction. Harding grass and wild oats are two common examples. At Edgewood Preserve, the Brachypodium grass and perennial ryegrass, and on San Bruno Mountain, the Rattlesnake grass, have destroyed native grass
