Schismus barbatus(L.) Thell.

common Mediterranean grass

WFO wfo-0000898002 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Schismus barbatus, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. a Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 193383697
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Jim Morefield
fig. b Jim Morefield, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192746360
Schismus barbatus, photographed by James C. Davis
fig. c James C. Davis, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 183619269
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. d Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 181977463
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Arvel Hernandez
fig. e Arvel Hernandez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 180378263
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Kym Nicolson
fig. f Kym Nicolson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172259915
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Amy
fig. g Amy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 134414882
Schismus barbatus, photographed by Amy
fig. h Amy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 118499296

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 36 botanical countries

Regions where Schismus barbatus is native: Algeria, Botswana, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Chad, Egypt, Free State, Lesotho, Libya, Madeira, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, West Himalaya, France, Kriti, Spain AlgeriaBotswanaCape ProvincesChadEgyptFree StateLesothoLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoNamibiaSudan-South SudanTunisiaWestern SaharaAfghanistanCyprusGulf StatesIranIraqKazakhstanKuwaitLebanon-SyriaOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaSinaiTibetTranscaucasusTurkmenistanPakistanWest HimalayaFranceKritiSpain Canary Is.Madeira
Native distribution of Schismus barbatus, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Chad CHA
Egypt EGY
Free State OFS
Lesotho LES
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Namibia NAM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tunisia TUN
Western Sahara WSA
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
Gulf States GST
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kuwait KUW
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Turkmenistan TKM
France FRA EUROPE
Kriti KRI
Spain SPA
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
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.

Also published as 45 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.

  • Agrostis calycina Willd. ex Steud.
  • Dactylis calycina (Loefl.) Scop.
  • Electra brevifolia Nees ex Steud.
  • Electra calycina (Loefl.) Panz.
  • Electra nitida Panz. ex Steud.
  • Electra ovalis Nees ex Steud.
  • Electra scaberrima Nees ex Steud.
  • Festuca barbata L.
  • Festuca calycina Loefl.
  • Festuca minuta Hoffm.
  • Hemisacris gonatodes Steud.
  • Koeleria calycina (Loefl.) DC.
  • Koeleria cantabrica Willk. & Lange
  • Koeleria multiculmis DC.
  • Schismus arabicus var. minutus (Hoffm.) Boiss.
  • Schismus barbatus f. coloratus Jahand. & Maire
  • Schismus barbatus subsp. calicinus (L.) Maire & Weiller
  • Schismus barbatus subsp. calycinus (Loefl.) Maire & Weiller
  • Schismus barbatus subsp. perennis (Ducell & Maire) Maire
  • Schismus barbatus var. genuinus Maire
  • Schismus barbatus var. minutus (Hoffm.) Maire & Weiller
  • Schismus barbatus var. perennis (Ducell & Maire) Maire
  • Schismus brevifolius Nees
  • Schismus calycinus (Loefl.) K.Koch

and 21 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.