SimplePlant

Poaceae

Purple speargrass

Piptochaetium stipoides (Trin. & Rupr.) Hack. & Arechav.

Family
Poaceae
Genus
Piptochaetium

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Purple speargrass: Piptochaetium stipoides on McCurdy Trail east of Dogtown (Marin County, California, US). "Photos copyrighted as, "Robert Steers/NPS," are public domain and can
Photo: Robert Steers/NPS, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (1)
English
Purple speargrass

Synonyms

  • Caryochloa stipoides (Trin. & Rupr.) Kuntze
  • Oryzopsis grisebachii Speg.
  • Oryzopsis stipoides (Trin. & Rupr.) Speg.
  • Piptatherum stipoides Gilbert
  • Piptochaetium chaetophorum Griseb.
  • Piptochaetium cuspidatum Phil.
  • Piptochaetium grisebachii (Speg.) Herter
  • Piptochaetium ovatum f. atrata Hack.
  • Piptochaetium ovatum var. chaetophora Hack.
  • Piptochaetium ovatum var. chaetophorum (Griseb.) Hack.
  • Piptochaetium ovatum var. purpurascens Hack.
  • Piptochaetium pallidum Phil. ex Griseb.
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. chaetophorum (Griseb.) Parodi
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. echinulatum Parodi
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. parviflorum Parodi
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. purpurascens (Hack.) Parodi
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. stipoides
  • Piptochaetium stipoides var. verruculosum (Mez) Parodi
  • Piptochaetium verruculosum (Mez) Henrard
  • Stipa chaetophora (Griseb.) Columbus & J.P.Sm.
  • Stipa pallida (Phil. ex Griseb.) Kuntze
  • Stipa verruculosa Mez
  • Urachne stipoides Trin. & Rupr.

Characteristics

Growth habit
Graminoid
Lifespan
Perennial
In the US and Canada
Lower 48 states: introduced

Photos

More in Piptochaetium

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.