Agrostis microphylla

Small-leaf bent grass, Small-Leaf Bent Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Native

Small-leaf bent grass is a California native annual grass found in northern coastal, southern coastal, Central Valley, central coastal, and southern coastal regions in thin, rocky soils, cliffs, vernal pools, and occasionally on serpentine at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces delicate, pale green to whitish flowers in compact, cylindrical clusters 2 to 12 centimeters long. Growing with slender stems 8 to 45 centimeters tall, it forms fine, sparse clumps with ascending branches. Its narrow leaves are 3 to 15 centimeters long, approximately 0.7 to 2.5 millimeters wide, with fine-textured surfaces that become inrolled as they dry. The grass produces distinctive spikelets with glumes 2.5 to 5 millimeters long and delicate awns 3.5 to 8 millimeters long that are slightly bent.

Habitat: Thin, rocky soils, cliffs, vernal pools, occasionally on serpentine

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: NCo, s NCoR, GV, CCo, SCo

California counties: Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Lassen, Mariposa, San Mateo, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Siskiyou, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Marin, San Diego, Mendocino, Los Angeles, Amador, Santa Cruz, Tehama, Placer, Merced, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Yuba

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