Anthoxanthum monticola(Bigelow) Veldkamp

alpine sweetgrass

WFO wfo-0000848163 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Ida B D Jacobsen
fig. a Ida B D Jacobsen, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-25 / obs. 154339008
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Eric Lamb
fig. b Eric Lamb, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190941208
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Eric Lamb
fig. c Eric Lamb, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190941190
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Ida B D Jacobsen
fig. d Ida B D Jacobsen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 154338982
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by er-birds
fig. e er-birds, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 139012363
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Matt Bowser
fig. f Matt Bowser, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 9014113
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Matt Bowser
fig. g Matt Bowser, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 9014118
Anthoxanthum monticola, photographed by Ida B D Jacobsen
fig. h Ida B D Jacobsen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 154339023

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 45 botanical countries

Regions where Anthoxanthum monticola is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Primorye, Sakhalin, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutiya, East Himalaya, East European Russia, Finland, North European Russia, Norway, Svalbard, Sweden, Alaska, Alberta, Aleutian Is., British Columbia, Greenland, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, Vermont, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChitaIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaPrimoryeSakhalinTuvaWest SiberiaYakutiyaEast HimalayaEast European RussiaFinlandNorth European RussiaNorwaySvalbardSwedenAlaskaAlbertaBritish ColumbiaGreenlandLabradorMaineManitobaMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNunavutOntarioQuébecVermontYukon Korea
Native distribution of Anthoxanthum monticola, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
Chita CTA
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Aleutian Is. ALU
British Columbia BRC
Greenland GNL
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Montana MNT
New Hampshire NWH
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Québec QUE
Vermont VER
Yukon YUK
East European Russia RUE EUROPE
Finland FIN
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
Svalbard SVA
Sweden SWE
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Aleutian Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 20 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aira alpina Lilj.
  • Anthoxanthum monticola f. monstruosa (Koidz.) Yonek.
  • Anthoxanthum monticola subsp. alpinum (Sw. ex Willd.) Soreng
  • Anthoxanthum monticola subsp. orthanthum (T.J.Sørensen) G.C.Tucker
  • Dimesia monticola (Bigelow) Raf.
  • Hierochloe alpina (Sw. ex Willd.) Roem. & Schult.
  • Hierochloe alpina f. monstruosa (Koidz.) Ohwi
  • Hierochloe alpina f. soperi Polunin
  • Hierochloe alpina f. soperi Polunin
  • Hierochloe alpina subsp. orthantha (T.J.Sørensen) G.Weim.
  • Hierochloe alpina var. aristata Raspail
  • Hierochloe alpina var. monstruosa Koidz.
  • Hierochloe alpina var. sajanensis Reverd.
  • Hierochloe alpina var. vivipara Honda
  • Hierochloe monstruosa (Koidz.) Honda
  • Hierochloe monticola (Bigelow) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Hierochloe orthantha T.J.Sørensen
  • Holcus alpinus Sw. ex Willd.
  • Holcus monticola Bigelow
  • Torresia alpina (Sw. ex Willd.) Hitchc.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.