General: Fluffgrass (Dasyochloa pulchella) is a common, low, upright grass that grows in individual clumps (bunches) in the deserts around Las Vegas. This is the common small bunchgrass around Las Vegas. The leaves are short, and the seed stalks barely stand above the leaves. Leaves produce soft, cobwebby hairs. The flower spikelets are covered in silvery hairs, giving the plant a fluffy white appearance. Blooms February to May.

Fluffgrass is a common component of vegetation associations in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.

Family: Grass (Poaceae).

Other Names: low woollygrass, desert fluff-grass, Erioneuron pulchellum.

Plant Form: Perennial grass. Grows in bunches.

Height: About 4-6 inches.

Leaves: Fresh leaves produce soft, cobwebby hairs that dissolve in water, such as after summer rains. The hairs are typically not present in spring.

Range: Southwestern United States, California, and northern to central Mexico.

Habitat: Dry regions with sandy and rocky soils.

Elevation: 1,000 to 5,500 feet.