Austrostipa is a primarily Australian genus of plants in the grass family, commonly called speargrass.[1][2][3][4]

Speargrass
Austrostipa nodosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Stipodae
Tribe: Stipeae
Genus: Austrostipa
S.W.L.Jacobs & J.Everett
Type species
Austrostipa mollis

The genus includes species formerly included in the genus Stipa. All known species are native to Australia, most of them found nowhere else. One species (A. variabilis) is, however, found in South Africa as well as in Australia, and two species (A. setacea + A. stipoides) are native to Australia and New Zealand.[5] The group likely originated in Australia approximately 20 million years ago.[6]

Species[7][8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance & Everett, Joy 1996. Telopea 6: 579–595
  2. ^ Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. (2008). "The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references". The Grass Genera of the World. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  3. ^ Australian Plant Name Index (APNI): Austrostipa
  4. ^ PlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online: Austrostipa
  5. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  6. ^ Syme, A. E. (2012). Diversification rates in the Australasian endemic grass Austrostipa - 15 million years of constant evolution. "Plant Systematics and Evolution" 298 (1):221-227.
  7. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  8. ^ FloraBase - The Western Australian flora online: Austrostipa — list of species
  9. ^ Atlas of Living Australia, Austrostipa S.W.L.Jacobs & J.Everett Spear-grasses