Feather Fingergrass (Chloris virgata Swartz)

[a non-native species]

Feather Fingergrass is an annual plant, with a shallow root system, growing to over 3 feet high and reproducing by seeds.The flower (left) consists of from "2 to 10 tawny, narrowly featherlike soft flowering spikes, 3/4 to 3 1/2 inches long, arising together at the stem tips. Each spikelet has a tuf of long soft hairs at the top, and very slender bristles 1/4 to 3/8 inch long." [Parker, p. 32]

The leaves (below, right) have enlarged upper bases, and are up to 3 inches long.

This is an exotic grass from South America. It is common along roadsides, in desert washes and swales. It flowers from April to November.

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