Rostraria cristata(L.) Tzvelev

Mediterranean hairgrass

WFO wfo-0000896185 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rostraria cristata, photographed by Jacqueline Jeanne
fig. a Jacqueline Jeanne, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-03 / obs. 205960400
Rostraria cristata, photographed by Christian Berg
fig. b Christian Berg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198324726
Rostraria cristata, photographed by Tim Johnson
fig. c Tim Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197523685
Rostraria cristata, photographed by CorentinD
fig. d CorentinD, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191102441
Rostraria cristata, photographed by Tim Johnson
fig. e Tim Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 181966500
Rostraria cristata, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. f Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168193493
Rostraria cristata, photographed by linkie
fig. g linkie, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 165637915
Rostraria cristata, photographed by Dave Richardson
fig. h Dave Richardson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159365491

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 48 botanical countries

Regions where Rostraria cristata is native: Algeria, Azores, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Madeira, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan-South Sudan, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Baleares, Bulgaria, Corse, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Krym, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe AlgeriaEgyptEritreaLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoSudan-South SudanTunisiaAfghanistanCyprusEast Aegean Is.Gulf StatesIranIraqKuwaitLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaSinaiTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanIndiaPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaBulgariaCorseFranceGreeceItalyKritiKrymNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalSiciliaSpainTürkiye-in-Europe AzoresCanary Is.Cape VerdeMadeiraBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Rostraria cristata, 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
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Gulf States GST
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kuwait KUW
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
Albania ALB EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Bulgaria BUL
Corse COR
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Verde CVI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tunisia TUN
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM

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.

Flowering 82 in flower of 97 examined

Peak flowering in Apr. Each bar is the share of Rostraria cristata observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 82 of 97 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 6 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 105 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 elongata Salzm. ex Steud.
  • Aira glauca Rochel
  • Aira phleoides (Vill.) Steud.
  • Alopecurus ciliatus All.
  • Avena panicea Roem. & Schult.
  • Brachypodium phleoides (Vill.) P.Beauv.
  • Bromus alopecuroides Lag.
  • Bromus cristatus (L.) Spreng.
  • Bromus cultus Steud.
  • Bromus dactyloides Roth
  • Bromus phleoides (Vill.) J.F.Gmel.
  • Bromus poiformis Forssk.
  • Bromus trivialis Savi
  • Dactylis pungens Hornem.
  • Dactylis spicata Brot. ex Spreng.
  • Festuca cristata L.
  • Festuca dactyloides Roth
  • Festuca gerardi Vill.
  • Festuca glaucescens Roth
  • Festuca phleoides Vill.
  • Koeleria aegyptiaca Steud.
  • Koeleria aristata Salzm. ex Ball
  • Koeleria avenacea P.Beauv.
  • Koeleria brachystachya DC.

and 81 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.