Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Agrostis scabra is a common species of grass known by the common names rough bent grass and ticklegrass. A tumbleweed, it is native to much of North America, and widely known elsewhere as an introduced species. It occurs in most of the United States except parts of the Southeast and most of Canada except for the farthest northern regions. It can be found in Mexico, and across Alaska to far eastern Asia as far south as Korea. It is resident in a great variety of habitats, from warm coastal valleys to the alpine climate of high mountain ranges. This is a perennial grass growing mainly upright in form to heights around 75 centimeters. The leaves are rough with tiny hairs and up to about 14 centimeters long. The flower cluster is a wide open array of spreading, thready branches bearing spikelets each a few millimeters long. The tolerance of this grass to alpine climates makes it a good plant to use in revegetating disturbed land in such regions. It is known to spring up on sites where few other plants can grow, such as abandoned coal mines and soils polluted with sulfur, copper, and nickel.

Plant type

Grass

Size

2 ft Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow

Flowering season

Spring

Special uses

Deer resistant

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Water

Low

Ease of care

Moderate

Soil description

Prefers loamy or clay soils. Grows poorly in sandy soils.

Propagation

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6*, 7*, 14, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Disturbed places and meadows

Plant communities

Lodgepole Forest, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

1 confirmed and 3 likely

Confirmed Likely

Sandhill Skipper

Polites sabuleti

Common Roadside-Skipper

Amblyscirtes vialis

Common Ringlet

Coenonympha tullia

Armyworm Moth

Mythimna unipuncta