Agrostis scabra
Rough bent grass
(c) Michael J. Papay, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Agrostis scabra (Rough bent grass) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by open ovate inflorescence, long arched branches that break at maturity.
Rough bent grass is a native perennial grass found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, and eastern Sierra Nevada in open roadsides, meadows, and conifer forest at elevations of 100 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to September, this grass produces delicate, pale greenish-white flower clusters in open, arching panicles 8 to 25 centimeters long. Growing 20 to 75 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems, it forms loose, open clumps with fine, thread-like branches. Its mostly basal leaves are narrow and finely scabrous, with blades 4 to 14 centimeters long and 1 to 3 millimeters wide, featuring ligules 2 to 5 millimeters in length. The grass produces small spikelets with lemmas that may occasionally have a short, straight awn less than 2 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 14 sympatric species; key features are open ovate inflorescence, long arched branches that break at maturity
Habitat and range
Habitat: Open roadsides, meadows, conifer forest
Elevation: 100-3500 m
California counties: San Bernardino, Alpine, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tulare, Tuolumne, Madera, Sierra, San Diego, Amador, Yuba, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Calaveras, Kern, Tehama, Humboldt, Sonoma, Trinity, Del Norte, Ventura, Stanislaus, Sacramento
Outside California: to Alaska, Canada, eastern United States
Bloom period
Agrostis scabra blooms Jul-Sep.
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 scabra native to California?
Yes. Agrostis scabra is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Agrostis scabra bloom?
Agrostis scabra blooms Jul-Sep.
Where in California does Agrostis scabra grow?
Agrostis scabra occurs in San Bernardino, Alpine, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Lake, Lassen and other counties, at elevations of 100-3500 m.
What plant family does Agrostis scabra belong to?
Agrostis scabra is in the Poaceae family, genus Agrostis.
What habitat does Agrostis scabra grow in?
Agrostis scabra grows in Open roadsides, meadows, conifer forest.
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.