Eragrostis lehmanniana
Lehmann's love grass
(c) Alex Abair, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alex Abair · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Not Native
Eragrostis lehmanniana (Lehmann's love grass) is a non-native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by perennial habit with rigid-pointed leaves distinguishes from other sympatric species.
Lehmann's love grass is a naturalized perennial grass found in southern California and the Desert Mountains at elevations below 1,000 meters, commonly occurring along roadsides. Flowering from March to October, this plant produces small gray-green flowers in open, loose inflorescences 6 to 20 centimeters long. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall that are often abruptly bent at the lower nodes, it forms a spreading, branched habit. Its grass blades are narrow, 8 to 15 centimeters long and 1 to 3 millimeters wide, tapering to a rigid point. The plant produces small pale oblong fruits approximately 0.6 to 0.8 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 7 sympatric species; perennial habit with rigid-pointed leaves distinguishes from other sympatric species
Habitat and range
Habitat: Roadsides
Elevation: < 1000 m
Outside California: to Texas, northern Mexico, native to southern Africa
Bloom period
Eragrostis lehmanniana blooms Mar-Oct.
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 lehmanniana native to California?
No. Eragrostis lehmanniana is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Eragrostis lehmanniana bloom?
Eragrostis lehmanniana blooms Mar-Oct.
What plant family does Eragrostis lehmanniana belong to?
Eragrostis lehmanniana is in the Poaceae family, genus Eragrostis.
What habitat does Eragrostis lehmanniana grow in?
Eragrostis lehmanniana grows in Roadsides.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · 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.