Aegilops cylindrica

Jointed goat grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Jointed goat grass is a naturalized annual found in the northern California Coast Ranges, Sacramento Valley, southwestern California, and northern California mountains in disturbed, dry sites and cultivated fields. Flowering from May to July, this grass produces narrow, cylindrical spikelets in compact clusters 2 to 12 centimeters long. Growing with erect stems 14 to 50 centimeters tall, it develops narrow leaf blades 3 to 15 centimeters long and only 2 to 5 millimeters wide. Its distinctive spikelets feature glumes with short to moderate awns, with the distal spikelets bearing dramatic awns 3 to 6 centimeters long. The plant's unique spike-like inflorescence breaks apart when mature, with spikelets partially sunken into its central axis.

Habitat: Disturbed, dry sites, cultivated fields

Bloom period: May-Jul

Bioregions: CaR, ScV, SW, MP

California counties: El Dorado, Butte, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Riverside, Marin, Lassen, Colusa, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Modoc, Shasta, Plumas, Ventura, Yolo, Santa Cruz

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.