Festuca octoflora

Sixweeks grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Native

Sixweeks grass is a California native annual grass found in sandy to rocky open sites below 2,000 meters elevation. Flowering from March to June, this delicate grass produces small, dense inflorescences 4 to 16 centimeters long with pale green to straw-colored spikelets. Growing with slender stems up to 60 centimeters tall, it can be glabrous or slightly hairy. Its fine leaves are narrow and compact, typical of annual grasses in open habitats. When mature, the plant develops small fruits 2 to 3.5 millimeters long, allowing it to quickly complete its life cycle in seasonal environments.

Habitat: Sandy to rocky soils, open sites

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Inyo, Riverside, Mono, Santa Clara, Alameda, Orange, Sonoma, Imperial, Tulare, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Monterey

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