Stipa is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species formerly assigned to Stipa, which have since been reclassified into new genera.
Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. Ornamental grasses are popular in many colder hardiness zones for their resilience to cold temperatures and aesthetic value throughout fall and winter seasons.
Nassella pulchra, basionym Stipa pulchra, is a species of grass known by the common names purple needlegrass and purple tussockgrass. It is native to the U.S. state of California, where it occurs throughout the coastal hills, valleys, and mountain ranges, as well as the Sacramento Valley and parts of the Sierra Nevada foothills, and Baja California.
Danthonia californica is a species of grass known by the common name California oatgrass. This plant is native to two separate regions of the Americas, western North America from California to Saskatchewan, and Chile.
Danthonia intermedia is a species of grass known by the common names timber oatgrass, intermediate oatgrass, and mountain wild-oat grass. This clumping erect perennial grass is native to North America, where it is widespread across most of Canada and along the western United States into California. It is a plant of the plains as well as forested, mountainous, alpine environments.
Elymus glaucus is a species of grass known as blue wild rye or blue wildrye. This grass is native to North America from Alaska to New York to northern Mexico. It is a common and widespread species of wild rye.
Festuca idahoensis is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plains grasslands.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Eriocoma latiglumis is a species of grass known by the common names wide-glumed needlegrass and Sierra needlegrass.
Eriocoma parishii is a species of grass known by the common name Parish's needlegrass.
Stipa speciosa (syn. Achnatherum speciosum is a species of grass known by the common name desert needlegrass. It is native to much of the south-western United States from California to Colorado, where it grows in dry areas, especially sagebrush habitat. It is also known from Mexico and parts of South America.
Piptochaetium, or speargrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to North and South America. Piptochaetium is a bunchgrass genus in the tribe Stipeae.
The Stipeae are a tribe of grasses within the subfamily Pooidae, with up to 600 described species.
Hesperostipa spartea, formerly Stipa spartea, is a species of grass known by the common names porcupine grass, western porcupine grass, short-awn porcupine grass, porcupine needlegrass, and big needlegrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread from British Columbia to Ontario in Canada and through the central and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It is a bunchgrass species in the genus Hesperostipa.
Nassella cernua is a species of grass known by the common name nodding needlegrass.
Nassella leucotricha is a species of grass known by the common names Texas wintergrass, Texas needlegrass, and Texas tussockgrass. It is native to the south-central United States and much of Mexico.
Nassella lepida is a species of grass known by the common names foothill needlegrass, foothills nassella, foothill stipa, small-flowered stipa, small-flowered needlegrass, and smallflower tussockgrass.
Hesperostipa is a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as needle-and-thread grass or needlegrass.
Nassella tenuissima is a species of grass known by the common names Mexican feathergrass, finestem needlegrass, fineleaved nassella, and Argentine needle-grass. It is native to the south-western United States, northern Mexico and Argentina. It is well-matched to climate in Australia and can be harmful to the Australian environment.
Nassella charruana, the lobed needle grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the family Poaceae, native to southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, and introduced to Victoria, Australia. As its synonym Stipa charruana it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.
