How about Giant Sacaton, AKA Sporobolus wrightii? The 'Windbreaker' cultivar is supposed to be able to reach 8-10', grows quickly and is comfortable in arid circumstances.

Unfortunately, I've never been attracted to those and they're too much like pampas grass for my taste. I'm looking for something more vertical, less bushy.

I can't think of anything else with both height and an erect habit...other than Bamboo. It's a grass, and worthy of consideration. I'm not sure if it's native to California, but it could meet all the other criteria.

Heh...I already have about 15 kinds of bamboo. None of it is native to CA, although there is one species native to the Southern USA. I even have one from Chile.

Arundo donax?

You're kidding, right?

Why would I be kidding?

Because it's not a California native and is massively invasive.

To quote:

"Arundo donax, a monocot, is a perennial herb that is not native to California; it was introduced from elsewhere and naturalized in the wild.
The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) lists plants that cause serious problems in native ecosystems. Cal-IPC classifies the statewide impact of Arundo donax as high (plant profile)."

Here is a link that might be useful: Arundo Donax Invasive Warning on Cal Flora

Sorry to disappoint you, Chief, but is it native to California, and it's only as "massively invasive" as you allow it to be.

Kindly don't bother me any more with your silly questions and comments. I've had enough of you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Arundo donax

Thanks for the link, but distribution in the wild doesn't mean its native. It just means it has naturalized.

Try searching the USDA site on "Japanese maple", a plant everyone knows is native to Asia, and you'll see it has naturalized in the NE USA. Not native, though.

Wikipedia says:

"Arundo donax is native to eastern and southern Asia, and probably also parts of Africa and southern Arabic Peninsula."

California Invasive Plant Council says:

"Three species of Arundo occur worldwide in tropical to warm temperate regions. A. donax is often considered indigenous to the Mediterranean Basin (Hickman 1993) or to warmer regions of the Old World, but apparently it is an ancient introduction into Europe from the Indian sub-continent (Bell 1998). In Eurasia it similarly inhabits low-gradient river courses and may provide useful wildlife habitat in greatly altered river deltas (Granval et al. 1993, He 1991).

Giant reed was brought to North America quite early, as it was abundant by 1820 in the Los Angeles River, where it was harvested for roofing material and fodder. This plant has played an important role in the development of music, as the cane was the source of the original Pan pipe or syrinx, and remains the source of reeds for woodwind instruments (Perdue 1958). Commercial plantations exist in California for musical instrument production, and other commercial possibilities are being explored. Horticultural propagation is widely conducted, and varieties of Arundo are available and commonly used in gardens or for erosion control (Sunset 1967). Invasive populations almost certainly resulted from escapes and displacement of plants from managed habitats. It spreads vegetatively either by rhizomes or fragments."

So sorry, you're not correct about it being native. Please don't spread bad information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cal-IPC on Arundo Donax

And just to attest that this isn't just a California problem, here is what the US Forestry Service has to say about it:

"OTHER STATUS:
Giant reed is listed as a noxious weed in Texas, an exotic plant pest in California, an invasive weed in Hawaii, and as an invasive, exotic pest in Tennessee. See the Invaders or Plants databases for more information.

Though accounts in the literature vary, a review by Bell [11] indicates giant reed is thought to be native in eastern Asia, and it has been cultivated throughout Asia, southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years. In North America, it was intentionally introduced from the Mediterranean to the Los Angeles area in California in the early 1800s (Robbins and others 1951, as cited in [49])[28], and has been widely planted throughout the warmer states as an ornamental and for erosion control along drainage canals [49,74]. It has escaped cultivation as far north as Virginia and Missouri, and abundant wild populations occur along the Rio Grande River [74] and along ditches, streams, and seeps in arid and cis montane regions of California (Robbins and others 1951, as cited in [49]).
According to Bell [11], giant reed is invasive throughout the warmer coastal freshwaters of the United States from Maryland westward to northern California. Wunderlin [107] recognizes the variety versicolor as occurring in Florida, and Jones and others [53] describe that variety as a cultivar. The literature contains specific references to the occurrence of giant reed in the 4 provinces of Mexico listed below [2,61,82,98]. Giant reed is likely present in other areas of Mexico.

Plants database provides a state distribution map of giant reed in the United States.

The following lists include North American ecosystems, habitat types, and forest and range cover types in which giant reed is known or thought to be invasive, as well as some that may be invaded by giant reed following disturbances in which vegetation is killed and/or removed and/or soil is disturbed (e.g. cultivation, fire, grazing, herbicide application, flooding). Giant reed is a hydrophyte and riparian areas or wetlands within these habitats could be subject to invasion by giant reed even if the habitat itself is not considered a wetland. For example, Nixon and Willett [71] list giant reed as a plant found within the Trinity River Basin in Texas. Habitats within the basin include cross timbers and prairies, blackland prairies, post oak (Quercus stellata) savannah, pineywoods, and Gulf prairies and marshes.

These lists are not necessarily exhaustive. More information is needed regarding incidents and examples of particular ecosystems and plant communities where giant reed is invasive."

Here is a link that might be useful: Forestry Service on Arundo Donax

So unless you're going to argue that the plant authorities working for the governments of California, Texas, Hawaii, and Tennessee are all wrong, I'm going to stick with the invasive label.

Lol the link donn posted has all the invasive/noxious info on it. I guess he stopped at the pictures.
Arundo donax is freaking evil. I'm in the process of eradicating about 1000 sqft. of the stuff.

Yes, if you scroll down below the map, all the invasive status info for arundo donax is listed at the bottom of the page he linked.

I'd never plant the stuff, personally.