Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are found as native plants in natural ecosystems, as forage in pastures, and as ornamental grasses in gardens.^[1][2][3] Flint Tussock and bunch grasses, in the Poaceae family, are grasses that usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants usually, they live more than one season

Many species have long roots that may reach 2-metre (6.6 ft) or more into the soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control, and soil porosity for precipitation absorption. Also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects (including Lepidoptera), birds, small animals and larger herbivores, and support beneficial soil mycorrhiza. The leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving, for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists.

Tussock and bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat where other grasses are found, including: grasslands, savannas and prairies, wetlands and estuaries, riparian zones, shrublands and scrublands, woodlands and forests, montane and alpine zones, tundra and dunes, and deserts.

Tussock-bunch grasslands, dormant season, in the Falklands Islands, South America.

Bunch-tussock grasses in the Konza tallgrass prairie

Fire resistance[link]

In western North American wildfires, bunch grasses tend to smolder and not ignite into flames, unlike invasive species of annual grasses that contribute to a fire's spreading. ^[4]

Genera[link]

Some Genera examples:

• Brachypodium
• Calamagrostis
• Chionochloa
• Deschampsia
• Festuca
• Heteropogon - (tropical climates)
• Leymus
• Melica
• Muhlenbergia
• Nassella
• Stipa

Species[link]

Australia[link]

• Button grass — (Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus)
• Red Anther Wallaby Grass — (Joycea pallida)

New Zealand[link]

• 'Red Tussock — (Chionochloa rubra)
  • other N.Z. 'Tussock Grass':
• Chionochloa australis
• C. flavescens
• Festuca novaezelandiae
• Poa caespitosa
• P. colensoi
• P. foliosa

North America[link]

Bunch Grasses:^[5]

• Purple three-awn — (Aristida purpurea)
• Blue grama — (Bouteloua gracilis)
• Leafy reedgrass — (Calamagrostis foliosa) - (endemic to California)
• Pacific reedgrass — (Calamagrostis nutkaensis)
• Purple Reedgrass — (Calamagrostis purpurascens)
• Hare's-tail Cottongrass — (Eriophorum vaginatum)
• California fescue — (Festuca californica)
• Idaho fescue — (Festuca idahoensis)
• Red fescue — (Festuca rubra)
• Junegrass — (Koeleria macrantha)
• Giant wildrye — (Leymus condensatus)
• California melic — (Melica californica)
• Deer grass — (Muhlenbergia rigens)
• Purple needlegrass — (Nassella pulchra) - (The state grass of California)
• Pine bluegrass — (Poa secunda)
• Salt Couch Grass — (Sporobolus virginicus)

South America[link]

• Tufted Hair-grass — (Deschampsia cespitosa) - (up through North America)
• Serrated tussock — (Nassella trichotoma) - (common pasture weed in Australia)
• Tussac grass — (Poa flabellata)
  • (synonyms: Parodiochloa flabellata, Festuca flabellata, Dactylis caespitosa)

Africa[link]

• Perennial tussock grass — (Heteropogon contortus) - (to Asia, Australasia, Oceania)

Europe[link]

• Rope grass — (Ampelodesmos mauritanicus)
• Purple Moor Grass — (Molinia caerulea) - (to west Asia and north Africa)

See also[link]

Plants portal

• Tussock (disambiguation)
• Tussock grassland
• List of Poaceae genera
• Bunch Grasses of California

Non-Poaceae tussocks[link]

• Tussock Sedge (Carex stricta)
• Fibrous Tussock-sedge (Carex appropinquata)
• Rough Saw-sedge (tussock) (Gahnia aspera)

References[link]

External links[link]

• California Native Grasslands Association: Bunchgrass species & habitats: preservation & restoration.