Delicate hair grass

Aira elegantissima, sometimes called delicate hairgrass or elegant hairgrass, is a slender annual grass of the family Poaceae native to the Mediterranean basin, southern Europe, North Africa and parts of southwestern Asia, where it grows on dry, sandy or rocky open ground, garrigue, fallow fields and roadside banks. The plant is small and wispy, with smooth, erect or ascending culms 8-35 cm tall and very narrow, almost setaceous leaves 1-5 cm long. Its diffuse, open panicle is its most distinctive feature: 4-12 cm long, broadly ovoid with finely divided, hair-like branches that spread widely at maturity, giving the inflorescence a delicate, gauzy appearance. The tiny spikelets, only about 1.5-2 mm long, contain two florets, each bearing a slender, geniculate dorsal awn that protrudes from the silvery-green to purplish glumes. It flowers in spring and early summer, and has been introduced as a naturalised casual on dry, disturbed ground in Australia, California and other regions with Mediterranean-type climates.