Aira praecox

Early hair grass, Early Hair Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Early hair grass is a naturalized annual found in northern California Coast and southern North Coast Ranges in sandy soils and open sites at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from May to July, this delicate grass produces pale green to white spikelets approximately 3 to 4 millimeters long with fine, bristle-like awns. Growing with slender stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall, it has a compact, narrow structure typical of small annual grasses. Its leaves are narrow and prow-tipped, with sheaths slightly rough to the touch and ligules measuring 1.4 to 5.3 millimeters long. The plant forms delicate, fine inflorescences 1 to 4 centimeters long that are less than a centimeter wide.

Habitat: Sandy soils, open sites

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: NCo, s NCoRO

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