Chloris virgata

Feather finger grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Feather finger grass is a naturalized annual grass found in the Great Valley, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, Peninsular Ranges, and desert regions in disturbed areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from April to September, this grass produces pale green to tan finger-like flower clusters with slender, delicate branches 5 to 10 centimeters long. Growing with upright stems 10 to 70 centimeters tall, it forms distinctive digitate (finger-like) inflorescences with 4 to 20 branches. Its narrow leaf blades are less than 30 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters wide, with leaf sheaths that may be smooth or slightly hairy near the collar. The small spikelets have delicate awns 2.5 to 15 millimeters long, giving the grass a feathery, wispy appearance.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: GV, SCoRO, SCo, PR, D

California counties: Butte, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Monterey, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Inyo, Los Angeles, Siskiyou, Ventura, Stanislaus, Alpine, Yolo, Tuolumne, Tehama, San Joaquin, Merced, Colusa, San Luis Obispo, Madera, Shasta, Glenn, Kings, Sacramento

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