Eragrostis hypnoides
Creeping love grass, Creeping Love Grass
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Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Eragrostis hypnoides (Creeping love grass) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by unique creeping habit with rooting at nodes distinguishes it.
Creeping love grass is a native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area in sandy or muddy areas near streams and lakes at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from July to September, this grass produces small, translucent spikelets 5 to 10 millimeters long in compact elliptic clusters. Growing with creeping stems that branch and root at nodes, it forms matted patches with delicate, flat or inrolled leaf blades 0.5 to 5 centimeters long. Its leaves are slender, ranging from 0.8 to 5.5 millimeters wide, often slightly hairy on the upper surface. The fruit is a tiny, light brown seed approximately 0.5 millimeters long, slightly flattened and elliptic in shape.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 10 sympatric species; unique creeping habit with rooting at nodes distinguishes it
Habitat and range
Habitat: Sand or mud near streams, lakes
Elevation: < 500 m
California counties: Colusa, Butte, Sacramento, Lake, Humboldt, Napa, Marin, Amador, Siskiyou, Madera, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Sonoma, Tehama, Monterey, Contra Costa, Glenn, Kings, Mariposa, Merced, Tulare, Ventura, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Yuba, Alameda, Stanislaus, Sutter, Solano
Outside California: to eastern United States, Mexico, South America
Bloom period
Eragrostis hypnoides blooms Jul-Sep.
How to tell it apart
vs Poa: Eragrostis spikelets are many-flowered and laterally flattened with 3-veined lemmas and no cobwebby tuft at the floret base; Poa lemmas are 5-veined, keeled and boat-tipped, often with webby hairs at the base.; vs Bromus: Eragrostis lemmas are small and awnless with 3 prominent veins; Bromus lemmas are larger, many-veined, and usually bear an awn from a notched tip.; vs Sporobolus: Eragrostis spikelets carry several florets each; Sporobolus spikelets hold a single floret and the ripe seed often falls free or swells with mucilage.; vs Muhlenbergia: Eragrostis spikelets are many-flowered and awnless in an open panicle; Muhlenbergia spikelets are 1-flowered and the lemma is commonly awn-tipped.; vs Leptochloa: Eragrostis carries spikelets in an open, spreading panicle; Leptochloa arranges them along slender, one-sided spike-like branches.
Frequently asked questions
Is Eragrostis hypnoides native to California?
Yes. Eragrostis hypnoides is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Eragrostis hypnoides bloom?
Eragrostis hypnoides blooms Jul-Sep.
Where in California does Eragrostis hypnoides grow?
Eragrostis hypnoides occurs in Colusa, Butte, Sacramento, Lake, Humboldt, Napa, Marin, Amador and other counties, at elevations of < 500 m.
What plant family does Eragrostis hypnoides belong to?
Eragrostis hypnoides is in the Poaceae family, genus Eragrostis.
What habitat does Eragrostis hypnoides grow in?
Eragrostis hypnoides grows in Sand or mud near streams, lakes.
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.