Agrostis variabilis

Mountain bent grass, Mountain Bent Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mountain bent grass is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and Warner Mountains in meadows, subalpine forest, and alpine talus at elevations of 1,600 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from July to August, this grass produces delicate, pale green to whitish flower clusters in compact, cylindrical panicles about 2.5 to 6 centimeters long. Growing with slender stems 4 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms small tufts with occasional short rhizomes. Its leaves are mostly basal, with narrow blades 3 to 7 centimeters long and less than 1 millimeter wide, typically flat but becoming folded. The tiny spikelets have minute glumes and lack an awn, creating a subtle, fine-textured appearance in high-elevation mountain habitats.

Habitat: Meadows, subalpine forest, talus, alpine

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1600-4000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, Wrn

California counties: Butte, Calaveras, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Mono, Plumas, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Nevada, Tehama, El Dorado, Amador, Modoc, Sierra, San Mateo, Placer, Mariposa, Lassen, Alpine, Glenn, Madera, Shasta, Mendocino, Colusa, Lake, Del Norte, Alameda

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