| Stipa tirsa | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Genus: | Stipa |
| Species: | S. tirsa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stipa tirsa Steven
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Stipa tirsa is a species of perennial grass native to Europe and temperate Asia. Culms are 40–100 cm long; leaf blades are filiform, involute, and 1–2 mm wide.
Description
S. tirsa is a perennial, tuft-forming grass with culms 40–100 cm tall. Leaf-sheaths are glabrous, ligules short (0.2–0.5 mm), and blades filiform, involute, 1–2 mm wide, puberulous and hairy beneath, with attenuate tips. The inflorescence is a contracted, linear panicle subtended at the base by a leaf. Spikelets are solitary, pedicelled, and 50–65 mm long, each with a single fertile floret and disarticulating at maturity. Glumes are lance-shaped (lanceolate), pointed (acuminate), membranous, and longer than the florets (50–65 mm). The fertile lemma is elliptic, 18–20 mm long, pubescent in lines, convolute around the inner bract (palea), and terminates in a single awn. The awn is bent twice (bigeniculate), 350–500 mm long, with a twisted column and feathery (plumose) limb. The inner bract equals the lemma in length, 2-veined. Flowers have three small scales (lodicules), three smooth-tipped anthers, and two stigmas; the ovary is glabrous. The fruit is a grain (caryopsis) with adherent outer layer (pericarp) and a linear narrow scar (hilum).[1]
Distribution and Habitat
According to Plants of the World Online, Stipa tirsa is native to parts of Europe and Asia, occurring from the Iberian Peninsula eastwards to Siberia.[2]
| Region | Country/Areas |
|---|---|
| Balkans | Albania; Bulgaria; Northwest Balkan Peninsula |
| Central Europe | Austria; Czechia–Slovakia; Germany; Hungary |
| Southern Europe | France; Italy; Romania; Spain |
| Eastern Europe | Ukraine; Krym (Crimea); European Russia (Central, East, South) |
| Caucasus | North Caucasus; Transcaucasus |
| Western Asia | Türkiye |
| Central Asia | Kazakhstan; West Siberia |
Synonyms
- Stipa stenophylla (Czern. ex Lindem.) Trautv.
References
- ^ "Stipa tirsa". GrassBase – The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^ "Stipa tirsa". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
