Hesperostipa spartea(Trin.) Barkworth

porcupinegrass

WFO wfo-0000874124 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Mary Krieger
fig. a Mary Krieger, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-01 / obs. 140333374
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Mary Krieger
fig. b Mary Krieger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141350526
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Ethan Rose
fig. c Ethan Rose, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134499259
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Katie Kucera
fig. d Katie Kucera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134429597
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. e Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134733296
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Mary Krieger
fig. f Mary Krieger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 87452641
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Mike B
fig. g Mike B, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 82548271
Hesperostipa spartea, photographed by Jeff D Hansen
fig. h Jeff D Hansen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 81583496

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 24 botanical countries

Regions where Hesperostipa spartea is native: Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Manitoba, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlbertaBritish ColumbiaColoradoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasManitobaMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew MexicoNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSaskatchewanSouth DakotaWisconsinWyoming
Native distribution of Hesperostipa spartea, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
British Columbia BRC
Colorado COL
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Manitoba MAN
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Mexico NWM
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

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 2 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.

  • Stipa robusta Nutt. ex Trin. & Rupr.
  • Stipa spartea Trin.

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.