Aegilops geniculata

Ovate goat grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Ovate goat grass is a naturalized annual found in Mendocino County and other disturbed areas at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this grass produces small spikelets with distinctive 2 to 3.5 centimeter-long awns that give it a bristly appearance. Growing with slender stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, it spreads readily in fields and along roadsides. Its leaf blades are narrow, measuring 2 to 7.5 centimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide, with a characteristic urn-shaped spikelet structure. The plant's fertile spikelets typically contain 2 to 4 florets, with lower spikelets breaking apart as the grass matures.

Habitat: Disturbed fields, roadsides

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCoRO (Mendocino Co.), expected elsewhere

California counties: Mendocino

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