Nassella tenuissima(Trin.) Barkworth

Mexican Feather GrassPony Tailsfinestem needlegrass

WFO wfo-0000881291 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. a Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-17 / obs. 144209458
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Gonzalo Roget
fig. b Gonzalo Roget, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 62435642
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Cecelia Alexander
fig. c Cecelia Alexander, CC0 1.0 / obs. 11682679
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Hugo Hulsberg
fig. d Hugo Hulsberg, CC0 1.0 / obs. 161917243
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Annika Lindqvist
fig. e Annika Lindqvist, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28726488
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Nick Block
fig. f Nick Block, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 65054743
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Jesse Rorabaugh
fig. g Jesse Rorabaugh, CC0 1.0 / obs. 18382577
Nassella tenuissima, photographed by Juan Cruzado Cortés
fig. h Juan Cruzado Cortés, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 194794665

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 10 botanical countries

Regions where Nassella tenuissima is native: Colorado, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, New Mexico, Texas, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South ColoradoMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SouthwestNew MexicoTexasArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina South
Native distribution of Nassella tenuissima, 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
Colorado COL NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southwest MXS
New Mexico NWM
Texas TEX
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS

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 11 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 cirrosa E.Fourn.
  • Stipa geniculata Phil.
  • Stipa mendocina Phil.
  • Stipa oreophila Speg.
  • Stipa subulata E.Fourn.
  • Stipa tenuissima Trin.
  • Stipa tenuissima f. colorata F.A.Roig
  • Stipa tenuissima f. nana Parodi
  • Stipa tenuissima var. oreophila (Speg.) Speg.
  • Stipa tenuissima var. planicola Speg.
  • Stipa tenuissima var. tenuissima

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.