Deschampsia cespitosa Tufted Hairgrass
General
A cool-season bunch grass. Its round, fluffy shape and color variety gives it some value as an ornamental plant. Many varieties are spread across the North American continent, from Alaska to northern Mexico. It is a good feeding grass for livestock and wildlife, and is occasionally cut for hay. Tufted hairgrass is useful for restoring moist to seasonally wet sites and stabilizing disturbed soils.
Plant Description
Growing in tense clumps from 2' to 5'. Hollow and smooth stems. Panicle inflorescences with spikelets. Usually light green, blue-green or golden brown in color.
Height (ft)
2-5'
Soil moisture
Medium to Moist
Soil types
Well-drained, organically rich
Wetland indicator
FACW
Shade tolerance
Intermediate, Full Sun to Partial Shade
Bloom color
Yellow
Bloom period
Summer
Drought tolerance
Low
Salinity tolerance
Low
Distribution
Tufted hairgrass is found in the northeastern, northcentral, and western united states, extending north through Canada into Alaska and Greenland, and south from New Mexico and Arizona into northern Mexico.
Additional information
Brown, Lauren. Grasses: An Identification Guide. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York City, 1979. LINK
Fassett, Norman C. A Manual of Aquatic Plants, First Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York and London, 1940. LINK
Garbisch, Edgar W., and McIninch, Suzanne M. Propagation of Wetland Plants: Herbaceous Plants, Shrubs and Trees. Environmental Concern, Inc. 2003. LINK
Harris, James G., and Harris, Melinda Woolf. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, Second Edition. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah. 2011. LINK
Hitchcock, A.S., and Chase, Agnes. Manual of the Grasses of the United States, Second Edition, Volume I. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1971. LINK
Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press) LINK
McKenny, Margaret and Peterson, Roger Tory. A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968. LINK
Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. Laurence Newcomb, Mexico. 1977. LINK
USDA, NRCS. 2021. PLANTS Database (https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/, 08/20/2021). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. LINK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deschampsia_cespitosa
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c450;
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/grass-sedge-rush/tufted-hairgrass
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DECE
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/deschampsia-cespitosa/
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/desces/all.html
