Phleum phleoides(L.) H.Karst.

Boehmer's cat's-tail

WFO wfo-0000890086 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Phleum phleoides, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. a Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205246504
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. b Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203311164
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Zoltán Stekkelpak
fig. c Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202663849
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Zoltán Stekkelpak
fig. d Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0 1.0 / obs. 201875753
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. e Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201475136
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. f Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 187097522
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. g Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 152748607
Phleum phleoides, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. h Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146361388

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 56 botanical countries

Regions where Phleum phleoides is native: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Altay, Buryatiya, East Aegean Is., Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaLibyaMoroccoTunisiaAltayBuryatiyaEast Aegean Is.Inner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Phleum phleoides, 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
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Buryatiya BRY
East Aegean Is. EAI
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is 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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,823 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -25.7 °C -11.8 °C -1.5 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 20.3 °C 23.9 °C 26.6 °C
Annual rainfall 374 mm 564 mm 970 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 29 mm 95 mm 176 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,823 research-grade observations of Phleum phleoides that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 36 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.

  • Chilochloa boehmeri (Wibel) P.Beauv.
  • Chilochloa boemerii P.Beauv.
  • Chilochloa phleoides (L.) Desv.
  • Heleochloa phalaroides (L.) P.Beauv.
  • Phalaris phleoides L.
  • Phalaris trigyna Host
  • Phleum arvense Pourr.
  • Phleum boehmeri Wibel
  • Phleum boehmeri subsp. clausiflorum Neuman & Ahlfv.
  • Phleum boehmeri subsp. cuspidatum (Roem. & Schult.) K.Richt.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. altissimum Ducommun
  • Phleum boehmeri var. blepharodes Asch. & Graebn.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. gracile Hausskn.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. imberbe Corb.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. interruptum Zabel
  • Phleum boehmeri var. laeve B.Fedtsch.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. laxum Delastre
  • Phleum boehmeri var. maximum Hack. & Briq.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. sakarense Velen.
  • Phleum boehmeri var. scabrum Lecoq & Lamotte
  • Phleum brevifolium Dulac
  • Phleum glabrum Bernh.
  • Phleum hostii Jacq.
  • Phleum laeve M.Bieb.

and 12 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.