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Eragrostis mexicana - Mexican lovegrass

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Eragrostis cordobensis, Eragrostis leptantha, Eragrostis limbata, Eragrostis pauciflora, Eragrostis purshii, Eragrostis rahmeri
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
Yes

Grass Description

Origin
Native
Season
Warm

Found on sandy soils, along roadsides, near cultivated fields and other disturbed areas.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Disturbed Areas
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Montane Conifer Forest
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Riparian
Low elevation
300
High elevation
8500

General Description

Tufted annual, stems erect or spreading, branching at the bases. Seedhead gray-green to purplish, branched, with oval spikelets on short stems.

Tufted annual, stems erect or trailing from the base. Sheaths hairy at tips and collars; ligule a dense row of hairs. Blades flat or involute. Seedhead spreading, not drooping. Spikelets compressed, egg shaped and gray-green to purplish, 5 to 15 florets.

Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
24 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - open and spreading
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
October

Flower Characteristics

Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes

Seedhead 4 to 16 inches, primary branches 1 to 5 inches, somewhat densely flowered, grayish-green to green mottled with red or purple. Spikelets ovate; 5 to 15 florets. Glandular pits below the spikelets. No glands on lemmas.

Vegetative Characteristics

Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface

Leaves are broad at bases, tapering at the tips. Blades are 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide and 2 to 4 inches long. Leaves are smooth but may be sparsely hairy at the bases.

Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Hairy
Auricles
No

Fair.