Holcus lanatus
Common velvet grass
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Not Native
Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes
Holcus lanatus (Common velvet grass) is a non-native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by . Key differences: growth habit, glume color and surface texture.
Common velvet grass is a naturalized perennial found throughout California (except the Desert Southwest) in moist sites, roadbanks, cultivated fields, and meadows at elevations up to 2,400 meters. Flowering from June to August, this grass produces purple-tinged spikelets with soft, short hairs. Growing with ascending to erect stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall, it forms dense, soft-textured clumps. Its leaves are 5 to 18 centimeters long with truncate, jagged-edged ligules and blades 4 to 9 millimeters wide. The grass develops compact, pale inflorescences 7 to 15 centimeters long with delicate, hairy spikelets.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 1 sympatric species. Key differences: growth habit, glume color and surface texture
Habitat and range
Habitat: Moist sites, roadbanks, cultivated fields, meadows
Elevation: < 2400 m
California counties: Humboldt, Marin, Plumas, Butte, San Francisco, Tuolumne, Sonoma, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Inyo, San Bernardino, San Diego, Mariposa, Kern, San Mateo, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Riverside, Del Norte, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Nevada, Placer, Tulare, Yuba, Lassen, Amador, Alameda, Napa, Sutter, Trinity, Mono, Ventura, Sacramento, Tehama, Contra Costa, Alpine, Modoc, Sierra, Yolo, Stanislaus, San Joaquin
Outside California: to Alaska, Canada, widespread United States, South America, native to Europe
Bloom period
Holcus lanatus blooms Jun-Aug.
Conservation status
Cal-IPC Yes
How to tell it apart
vs Anthoxanthum: Holcus has whitish, soft velvety foliage and a two-flowered spikelet with a single short hooked awn; sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum) is sweetly hay-scented (coumarin) and has 2 sterile lemmas below the fertile floret.; vs Arrhenatherum: Holcus is uniformly soft-velvety with tiny (4-5 mm) purplish spikelets; tall oatgrass (Arrhenatherum) has larger spikelets with one long bent-and-twisted awn and a swollen bulbous stem base.; vs Avena: Holcus spikelets are small (4-5 mm) with a short, nearly hidden hooked awn; Avena (wild oats) has large drooping spikelets over 2 cm with a stout twisted geniculate awn.; vs Aira: Holcus is a perennial with soft velvety leaves and a dense pale panicle; Aira is a delicate glabrous annual with hair-fine branches and tiny glossy spikelets.; vs Agrostis: Holcus has 2-flowered spikelets with hairy-keeled glumes and velvety foliage; Agrostis (bentgrass) has 1-flowered spikelets in an open airy panicle and glabrous leaves.
Frequently asked questions
Is Holcus lanatus native to California?
No. Holcus lanatus is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Holcus lanatus bloom?
Holcus lanatus blooms Jun-Aug.
Where in California does Holcus lanatus grow?
Holcus lanatus occurs in Humboldt, Marin, Plumas, Butte, San Francisco, Tuolumne, Sonoma, San Luis Obispo and other counties, at elevations of < 2400 m.
What plant family does Holcus lanatus belong to?
Holcus lanatus is in the Poaceae family, genus Holcus.
Is Holcus lanatus invasive in California?
Holcus lanatus is listed by Cal-IPC with an invasiveness rating of Yes.
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.