Austrostipa is a primarily Australian genus of plants in the grass family, commonly called speargrass.Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance & Everett, Joy 1996. Telopea 6: 579–595Australian Plant Name Index (APNI): AustrostipaPlantNET: New South Wales Flora Online: Austrostipa
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 and A. stipoides) are native to Australia and New Zealand.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The group likely originated in Australia approximately 20 million years ago.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.
SpeciesKew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesFloraBase - The Western Australian flora online: Austrostipa — list of speciesAtlas of Living Australia, Austrostipa S.W.L.Jacobs & J.Everett Spear-grasses
References