Deschampsia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image=DeschampsiaCesp.jpg

|image_caption=Deschampsia cespitosa

|display_parents=4

|parent_authority=F.Albers & Butzin

|taxon=Deschampsia

|authority=P.Beauv.{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?3522 |title=Genus: Deschampsia P. Beauv. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=1999-03-09 |access-date=2011-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721033754/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?3522 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |url-status=dead }}

|type_species=Deschampsia cespitosa

|type_species_authority=(L.) P.Beauv.lectotype designated by Nash in N. L. Britton et A. Brown, Ill. Fl. N.U.S. ed. 2. 1: 215. 7 Jun (1913)[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40028491 Tropicos, Deschampsia P.Beauv.]

|synonyms=

{{Genus list

|Airidium|Steud.

|Aristavena|F.Albers & Butzin

|Campella|Link

|Czerniaevia|Turcz. ex Griseb.

|Erioblastus|Honda ex Nakai

|Monandraira|É.Desv.

|Podionapus|Dulac

|Scribneria|Hack.

}}

|synonyms_ref={{Cite POWO|title=Deschampsia P.Beauv..|id=325390-2|access-date=2024-11-28|mode=cs1}}

}}

Deschampsia is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as hair grass{{ITIS |id=42099 |taxon=Deschampsia |accessdate=2011-03-07}} or tussock grass. The genus is widespread across many countries.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/394170#page/175/mode/1up Palisot de Beauvois, Ambroise Marie François Joseph. 1812. Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie 91] descriptions in Latin, etymology explained in French[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/394170#page/303/mode/1up Palisot de Beauvois, Ambroise Marie François Joseph. 1812. Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie, plate XVIII (18) figure III (3)] line drawing of Deschampsia cespitosa

The genus is named for French physician and naturalist Louis Auguste Deschamps (1765–1842).[http://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000002008 Jstor Deschamps, Louis Auguste (1765-1842)]

Deschampsia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera, including antler moth, the clay, clouded-bordered brindle, common wainscot, dark arches, dusky brocade, shoulder-striped wainscot, smoky wainscot and wall.

Deschampsia sometimes grow in boggy acidic formations, an example of which is the Portlethen Moss, Scotland.

Deschampsia antarctica is the world's most southern monocot,

{{cite book |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Mark C. |title=Guinness Book of World Records 1997 |year=1955 |publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofwo00mark/page/42 42] |isbn=0-9652383-0-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofwo00mark/page/42 }}

{{cite book |last1=Wali |first1=Mohan K. |last2=Evrendilek |first2=Fatih |last3=Fennessy |first3=M. Siobhan |title=The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions |publisher=CRC Press |date=July 2009 |pages=21 |isbn=978-1-4200-0733-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CufKBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |access-date=25 Sep 2016}} and one of only two flowering plants of Antarctica.Smith, Ronald I.L.. 1984 Terrestrial plant biology of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic. In: Laws, R.M., (ed.) Antarctic Ecology, vol. 1. London, Academic Press, 61-162.{{cite journal |last1=Holderegger |first1=Rolf |last2=Stehlik |first2=Ivana |last3=Lewis Smith |first3=Ronald I. |last4=Abbott |first4=Richard J. |title=Populations of Antarctic Hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica) Show Low Genetic Diversity |journal=Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |date=May 2003 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=214–217 |doi=10.1657/1523-0430(2003)035[0214:POAHDA]2.0.CO;2|url=https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/wsl/islandora/object/wsl%3A2313 }}

Some species, such as D. cespitosa, are grown as ornamental garden plants.