European feather grass

Description

Stipa pennata, common name European feather grass, or Orphan maidenhair (Hungarian: pusztai árvalányhaj) is a flowering plant and arid zone sand grass in the grass family Poaceae, which is grown as an ornamental plant for its feathery flowering spikes, common to the Puszta in Hungary and the Devínska Kobyla forest-steppe in Slovakia. Its foliage is green in summer while the flowers are silvery-grey during the same season. It is 60–90 centimetres (24–35 in) high. Stipa is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species formerly assigned to Stipa, which have since been reclassified into new genera. Many species are important forage crops. Several species such as Stipa brachytricha, S. arundinacea, S. splendens, S. calamagrostis, S. gigantea and S. pulchra are used as ornamental plants. One former species, esparto grass (Macrochloa tenacissima), is used for crafts and extensively in paper making. It is a coarse grass with inrolled leaves and a panicle patterned inflorescence. Species of the genus Stipa can occur in grasslands or in savanna habitats. Certain specific prairie plant associations are dominated by grasses of the genus Stipa, which genus often lends its name to the terminology of some prairie types. In some areas of the western United States grasses of the genus Stipa form a significant part of the understory of Blue Oak savannas, and were even a more important element prehistorically before the invasion of many European grasses.