Setaria sphacelata

African bristle grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

African bristle grass is a naturalized perennial herb found in California's Great Valley and Carrizo Plain bioregions on ditch banks at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from July to October, this grass produces pale inflorescences with distinctive bristles 9 to 40 centimeters long. Growing in tufted or clustered form with stems 60 to 300 centimeters tall, it has broad leaf blades 10 to 50 centimeters long and 3 to 15 millimeters wide. Its leaves have smooth surfaces with glabrous sheaths and small ligules approximately 1 to 2 millimeters long. The spikelets are tiny, measuring about 2 to 3 millimeters long with acute-tipped glumes and multiple delicate bristles.

Habitat: Ditch banks

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: CaRF, GV

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