Heteropogon contortus

Tanglehead

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Tanglehead is a naturalized perennial grass found in San Diego County and the Desert-Sonoran regions on rocky slopes and open areas at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to November, this grass produces distinctive dark brown spikelets with red-brown callus hairs and dramatic twisted awns 6 to 10 centimeters long. Growing with robust stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall, it spreads across open landscapes with characteristic flexibility. Its leaf blades are relatively narrow, measuring 6 to 20 centimeters long and 4 to 8 millimeters wide, creating dense clumps in its native habitat. The plant's unique spikelet structure, featuring sharp-pointed glumes and puberulent awns, makes it easily distinguishable from other grasses in its range.

Habitat: Uncommon. Rocky slopes, washes, open areas

Bloom period: Mar-Nov

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: SCo (San Diego Co.), DSon

California counties: San Diego, Imperial

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