Polypogon maritimus
Mediterranean beard grass
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Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Not Native
Polypogon maritimus (Mediterranean beard grass) is a non-native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by P. monspeliensis by ciliate-fringed glumes and awnless lemmas.
Mediterranean beard grass is a naturalized annual grass found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southern California coastal areas, western Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and eastern Mojave Desert in moist places at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering in June, this grass produces dense, plume-like inflorescences 1 to 8.5 centimeters long with pale, bristly spikelets. Growing with slender stems 5 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms delicate, compact clusters. Its leaves have narrow blades 1 to 14 centimeters long and 2 to 4 millimeters wide, with ligules less than 6 millimeters long and irregularly toothed edges. The spikelets feature glumes with fine bristles and delicate fringed edges, with tiny awns 4.5 to 12 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 5 sympatric species; distinguished from P. monspeliensis by ciliate-fringed glumes and awnless lemmas
Habitat and range
Habitat: Common. Moist places
Elevation: < 600 m
California counties: Yolo, Sacramento, Humboldt, Solano, San Diego, Riverside, Lake, Santa Barbara, Colusa, Glenn, Los Angeles, Kern, Mendocino, Sonoma, Tulare, Tehama, Butte, Yuba, Amador, Stanislaus, Shasta, Marin, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sutter, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Trinity, Del Norte, San Bernardino, Ventura, El Dorado, Merced, Napa, Madera, Mariposa
Outside California: native to Mediterranean Europe, Africa
Bloom period
Polypogon maritimus blooms Jun.
How to tell it apart
vs Lagurus: Beard grass has loose fuzzy heads in wet areas; hare's tail has dense white-woolly oval heads in dry areas.; vs Cynosurus: Beard grass has soft fuzzy bristled heads; dogtail has hard one-sided spike-like heads.; vs Hordeum: Beard grass has soft fuzzy heads; barley has stiff, harsh-awned spike-like heads.; vs Setaria: Beard grass spikelets fall intact; foxtail bristles remain on stem after seeds fall.; vs Trifolium: Polypogon is a grass with fuzzy flower spikes; Trifolium is a legume with clover-leaf clusters.
Frequently asked questions
Is Polypogon maritimus native to California?
No. Polypogon maritimus is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Polypogon maritimus bloom?
Polypogon maritimus blooms Jun.
Where in California does Polypogon maritimus grow?
Polypogon maritimus occurs in Yolo, Sacramento, Humboldt, Solano, San Diego, Riverside, Lake, Santa Barbara and other counties, at elevations of < 600 m.
What plant family does Polypogon maritimus belong to?
Polypogon maritimus is in the Poaceae family, genus Polypogon.
What habitat does Polypogon maritimus grow in?
Polypogon maritimus grows in Common. Moist places.
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.