Stipa pennataL.

European feather grassneedlegrass

WFO wfo-0000902591 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Stipa pennata, photographed by ll r Ирина
fig. a ll r Ирина, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-08 / obs. 205742973
Stipa pennata, photographed by Oleg Kosterin
fig. b Oleg Kosterin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204785483
Stipa pennata, photographed by Michael Andresek
fig. c Michael Andresek, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203890328
Stipa pennata, photographed by Oleg Kosterin
fig. d Oleg Kosterin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205813736
Stipa pennata, photographed by Вячеслав Юсупов
fig. e Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203415133
Stipa pennata, photographed by Вячеслав Юсупов
fig. f Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203415078
Stipa pennata, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. g Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202665089
Stipa pennata, photographed by Андрей Козлов
fig. h Андрей Козлов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199592344

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 Stipa pennata is native: Afghanistan, Altay, Buryatiya, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Pakistan, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AfghanistanAltayBuryatiyaIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKrasnoyarskMongoliaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangPakistanAlbaniaAustriaBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Stipa pennata, 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
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Buryatiya BRY
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL

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 83 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 anomala P.A.Smirn. ex Roshev.
  • Stipa aperta Janka ex Čelak.
  • Stipa appendiculata Čelak.
  • Stipa austriaca (Beck) Klokov
  • Stipa austroitalica subsp. appendiculata (Čelak.) Moraldo
  • Stipa austroitalica var. appendiculata (Čelak.) Martinovský
  • Stipa balcanica (Martinovský) Kožuharov
  • Stipa borysthenica subsp. germanica (Erdtman) Martinovský & Rausch
  • Stipa danubialis Dihoru & Roman
  • Stipa disjuncta Klokov
  • Stipa dvorakii (Martinovský & Moraldo) Landolt
  • Stipa eriocaulis Borbás
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. austriaca (Beck) Moraldo & Ricceri
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. carniolica Jogan
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. dvorakii (Martinovský & Moraldo) Moraldo & Ricceri
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. kiemii (Martinovský) Tzvelev
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. lithophila (P.A.Smirn. ex Roshev.) Tzvelev
  • Stipa eriocaulis subsp. lutetiana H.Scholz
  • Stipa gallica (Steven) Čelak.
  • Stipa graniticola Klokov
  • Stipa iberica f. laevis Martinovský
  • Stipa iberica var. pygmaea Martinovský
  • Stipa joannis Čelak.
  • Stipa joannis Čelak.

and 59 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.