Apera spica-venti(L.) P.Beauv.

loose silky-bentloose silkybent

WFO wfo-0000848273 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Apera spica-venti, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. a Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-07-03 / obs. 82356030
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Gabriel Mayrhofer
fig. b Gabriel Mayrhofer, CC0 1.0 / obs. 82483568
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Robert H. Wardell
fig. c Robert H. Wardell, CC0 1.0 / obs. 81551530
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Christian Berg
fig. d Christian Berg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 81229237
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Adilya Galeeva
fig. e Adilya Galeeva, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 81123784
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Grzegorz Grzejszczak
fig. f Grzegorz Grzejszczak, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 87561563
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Tomas Pocius
fig. g Tomas Pocius, CC0 1.0 / obs. 107819911
Apera spica-venti, photographed by Robert H. Wardell
fig. h Robert H. Wardell, CC0 1.0 / obs. 46044720

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 46 botanical countries

Regions where Apera spica-venti is native: Algeria, Canary Is., Egypt, Libya, Madeira, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Buryatiya, East Aegean Is., Iran, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sardegna, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaEgyptLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoTunisiaBuryatiyaEast Aegean Is.IranIrkutskKazakhstanKrasnoyarskNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNetherlandsNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine Canary Is.MadeiraSardegna
Native distribution of Apera spica-venti, 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
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Buryatiya BRY ASIA-TEMPERATE
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Canary Is. CNY
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

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 54 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.

  • Agraulus anemagrostoides (Trin.) Trin.
  • Agrostis anemagrostis Syme
  • Agrostis anemagrostis subsp. spica-venti (L.) Syme
  • Agrostis anemagrostoides Trin.
  • Agrostis boetica Colla
  • Agrostis effusa Spreng.
  • Agrostis filiformis Vill.
  • Agrostis gracilis Salisb.
  • Agrostis purpurea Gaudin
  • Agrostis rupestris var. filiformis (Vill.) Link
  • Agrostis spica-venti L.
  • Agrostis spica-venti f. flavida Waisb.
  • Agrostis spica-venti f. violacea Waisb.
  • Agrostis spica-venti var. purpurea (Gaudin) Fr.
  • Agrostis spica-venti var. purpurea (Gaudin) Schleich. ex Mutel
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. biflora Pauquy
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. diffusa Neilr.
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. gracilis St.-Lag.
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. lutea Tinant
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. patula Lej. & Courtois
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. pumila Tinant
  • Agrostis spicaventi var. virescens Tinant
  • Agrostis ventosa Dulac
  • Anemagrostis spica-venti (L.) Trin.

and 30 more.

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.