Apera interrupta

Dense silky bent

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Dense silky bent is a naturalized annual grass found in the Klamath Ranges, California Ranges, Modoc Plateau (west of Alturas), and White and Inyo Mountains in disturbed sites at elevations of 1,220 to 1,700 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces pale green to greenish-white flowers in delicate, slender inflorescences 5 to 15 centimeters long. Growing with multiple stems 10 to 60 centimeters tall that can form tufted clusters, it has a somewhat spreading growth habit. Its narrow leaves are 1 to 3 millimeters wide, with slightly rough surfaces and short ligules 1 to 4 millimeters long. The plant's distinctive flowering structures feature small glumes and lemmas with delicate awns 5 to 8 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1220-1700 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, MP (w of Alturas, Modoc Co.), W&ampI (Furnace Creek, e Mono Co.)

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