Rytidosperma penicillatum

Hairy oat grass, poverty grass, Poverty Grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Hairy oat grass is a naturalized perennial found in coastal regions including Northern California Coast, Central Coast, and Western Transverse Ranges in the Santa Ynez Mountains at elevations below 800 meters in disturbed areas. Flowering from June to July, this grass produces pale green to straw-colored spikelets 10 to 15 millimeters long with delicate hair tufts. Growing with stems 30 to 90 centimeters tall and short rhizomes, it forms dense clumps with primarily basal leaves. Its leaves are flat or inrolled, generally less than 30 centimeters long, with distinctive marginal hair tufts that overlap the lemma base. The grass has an intricate inflorescence with lateral lobes 5 to 13 millimeters long and a central awn that reflexes to reveal the palea tip.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, CCo, WTR (Santa Ynez Mtns)

California counties: Humboldt, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Alameda, Marin, Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Siskiyou

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