Eragrostis pectinacea
Tufted lovegrass
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Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Native
Eragrostis pectinacea (Tufted lovegrass) is a native California grass in the Poaceae family.
Tufted lovegrass is a native annual grass found across California's varied landscapes, growing in open areas and disturbed sites. Flowering from July to October, this delicate grass produces small gray-green to red-tinged spikelets in open, spreading inflorescences 10 to 25 centimeters long. Growing with erect stems 15 to 60 centimeters tall that are occasionally bent at the base, it forms loose, airy tufts. Its grass blades are narrow, flat, and 2 to 15 centimeters long, with white-tufted hair at the leaf collar margins. The delicate spikelets contain 5 to 15 individual florets, each with thin, prominent-veined lemmas that range from gray-green to subtly red-tinted at the tips.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: Geographically isolated; parent species with unclear range, only known from specific counties
Habitat and range
California counties: Kern, Stanislaus, Fresno, Los Angeles, Tehama, Santa Clara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Nevada, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Butte, Tulare, Humboldt, Colusa, San Diego, Monterey, Marin, Amador, Imperial, Lake, Orange, Sutter, Sacramento, Glenn, Yolo, Mendocino, Inyo, Calaveras, Merced, Placer, Solano, Sonoma, San Joaquin, Madera, Alameda, Santa Cruz
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 pectinacea native to California?
Yes. Eragrostis pectinacea is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Eragrostis pectinacea grow?
Eragrostis pectinacea occurs in Kern, Stanislaus, Fresno, Los Angeles, Tehama, Santa Clara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo and other counties.
What plant family does Eragrostis pectinacea belong to?
Eragrostis pectinacea is in the Poaceae family, genus Eragrostis.
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.