Tufted Hair-grass - Deschampsia cespitosa

Description

Large, densely tufted plant to 120 cm tall. Leaves to 5mm wide with strong parallel ridges and furrows on the upper side. Panicles with whorled spreading branches.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

The panicle is branched. Each spikelet contains two florets. A strongly tufted grass forming large tussocks. Its leaves are very rough.

Habitat

Wet or marshy ground, wet woodland, and heavy soils.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Perennia.

UK Status

Very common throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Very common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 589 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Tufted Hair-grass
Species group:
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
159
First record:
11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
Last record:
24/08/2023 (O'Brien, Helen)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records