Eragrostis mexicana subsp. virescens

Chilean love grass, Chilean Love Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Native

Chilean love grass is a California native annual grass found in disturbed soils and sandy riverbanks at elevations below 2,470 meters. Flowering from May to October, this delicate grass produces small, linear to lance-linear spikelets approximately 1 millimeter wide. Growing with fine, slender stems that spread in loose, open clusters, it forms soft, airy patches in open landscapes. Its narrow leaves are typically light green, blending subtly with surrounding vegetation. The fruit develops as a small, ovoid or pear-shaped seed, characteristic of its grass family.

Habitat: Disturbed soils in fields, sandy riverbanks

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: < 2470 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Ventura, Fresno, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Inyo, Solano, Plumas, Mono, Kern, Marin, San Francisco, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Riverside, El Dorado, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Alameda, Lake, San Diego, Shasta, Calaveras, Amador, Sonoma, Alpine, Butte, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Glenn, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, San Mateo, Trinity, Tuolumne, Tulare, Yolo, Sacramento, Tehama, Yuba, Modoc, Merced, Kings, Stanislaus

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