Tufted Lovegrass
Desert Lovegrass
Eragrostis pectinacea
var. miserrima
(E. arida)
Observed in Sept. 2009 along Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA. Image made by flatbead scanner.
ANNUAL: Tufted annual usu. less than 1 meter
tall. A number of stems emerging from ground level.
INFLORESCENCE: An open panicle with relatively long, spreading, spindly
stalks supporting the many spikelets. Flowering by late spring into fall
depending on rainfall.
LEAVES: Narrow blades about 10 cm
long and often just a few mm wide with the edges lightly
involute. Glands and hairs absent from leaves and sheaths.
RANGE: In the Sonoran Desert this annual grass grows along washes or
roadsides. Found across North America in three varieties. Positive
identification of the Eragrostis spp. is difficult and tedious requiring
expertise and a good microscope.
FRUIT: Grains about 1 mm long.
UNARMED