Eragrostis variabilis is a species of grass known by the common names variable lovegrass, kawelu, emoloa, and kalamalo.

[2] This plant grows in several types of island habitat from dunes at sea level to ridges and cliffs at up to 3700 feet in elevation.

[4] The grass also provides important nesting cover for the rare Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis).

It is used by other bird species, such as the brown noddy (Anous stolidus), wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus pacificus), and red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda).

[2] This grass is displaced by the introduced weed sandbur (Cenchrus echinatus).