Eragrostis lutescens
Six-weeks love grass
(c) Forest and Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Eragrostis lutescens (Six-weeks love grass) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by yellowish-purple flower clusters and round pitted glands.
Six-weeks love grass is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills and San Joaquin Valley in sandy margins of streams and lakes at elevations below 1,050 meters. Flowering from July to October, this delicate grass produces yellow spikelets with purple-tinged tips in narrow erect inflorescences 2 to 10 centimeters long. Growing with ascending or erect stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall, it features distinctive round glands below its nodes and a unique growth pattern. Its narrow leaf blades are 2 to 10 centimeters long, typically 1 to 3 millimeters wide, and have lower surface veins covered with round glands. The spikelets contain 8 to 14 florets with prominent lemma veins and tiny purple anthers approximately 0.2 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 10 sympatric species; yellowish-purple flower clusters and round pitted glands are diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Sandy margins of streams, lakes
Elevation: < 1050 m
Outside California: to Washington, Colorado, Arizona
Bloom period
Eragrostis lutescens blooms Jul-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 lutescens native to California?
Yes. Eragrostis lutescens is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Eragrostis lutescens bloom?
Eragrostis lutescens blooms Jul-Oct.
What plant family does Eragrostis lutescens belong to?
Eragrostis lutescens is in the Poaceae family, genus Eragrostis.
What habitat does Eragrostis lutescens grow in?
Eragrostis lutescens grows in Sandy margins of streams, lakes.
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.