Agrostis pallens
Dune bent grass, Dune Bent Grass
Photo by Chez Brungraber
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Agrostis pallens (Dune bent grass) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by extremely widespread distribution across multiple bioregions and broad elevation range.
Dune bent grass is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province and Great Basin in open meadows, woodlands, forests, and subalpine areas at elevations of 200 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from June to August, this grass produces delicate, pale green to whitish flowers in open, lanceolate panicles 5 to 20 centimeters long. Growing 10 to 70 centimeters tall with occasionally spreading rhizomes, it forms loose, graceful clumps of slender stems. Its leaves have narrow blades 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, ranging from 1 to 6 millimeters wide, which can be flat or slightly rolled. The tiny spikelets feature glumes 2 to 3 millimeters long, with lemmas occasionally bearing a short, straight awn up to 2.5 millimeters in length.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 19 sympatric species; key feature is extremely widespread distribution across multiple bioregions and broad elevation range
Habitat and range
Habitat: Common. Open meadows, woodland, forest, subalpine
Elevation: 200-3500 m
California counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Orange, Plumas, Riverside, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Tulare, Ventura, Alameda, Mono, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Placer, Nevada, Tuolumne, Lake, Kern, Sonoma, Lassen, Tehama, Trinity, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Sacramento, Solano, Shasta, San Joaquin
Outside California: to British Columbia, Montana, Mexico
Bloom period
Agrostis pallens blooms Jun-Aug.
How to tell it apart
vs Oloptum: Oloptum has prominent bent awns; Agrostis awns are tiny or absent.; vs Holcus: Holcus has velvety-hairy spikelets; Agrostis spikelets are smooth and glossy.; vs Polypogon: Polypogon has dense bristly panicles; Agrostis panicles are airy and delicate.; vs Poa: Poa has boat-shaped lemmas with 5 veins; Agrostis lemmas are rounded with faint veins.; vs Festuca: Festuca has multiple flowers per spikelet; Agrostis has single-flowered spikelets.
Frequently asked questions
Is Agrostis pallens native to California?
Yes. Agrostis pallens is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Agrostis pallens bloom?
Agrostis pallens blooms Jun-Aug.
Where in California does Agrostis pallens grow?
Agrostis pallens occurs in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte and other counties, at elevations of 200-3500 m.
What plant family does Agrostis pallens belong to?
Agrostis pallens is in the Poaceae family, genus Agrostis.
What habitat does Agrostis pallens grow in?
Agrostis pallens grows in Common. Open meadows, woodland, forest, subalpine.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.