Stipellula capensis

{{Short description|Species of grass}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Stipa capensis.JPG

| genus = Stipellula

| species = capensis

| authority = (Thunb.) Röser & Hamasha

|synonyms =

• Stipa capensis {{small|Thunb. (1794)}} (basionym)
• Stipa capensis var. tortilis {{small|(Desf.) Breistr.}}
• Stipa humilis {{small|Brot., nom. illeg.}}
• Stipa liwinowii {{small|Roshev., pro syn.}}
• Stipa retorta {{small|Cav.}}
• Stipa seminuda {{small|Vahl ex Hornem.}}
• Stipa tenacissima {{small|Ucria, nom. illeg.}}
• Stipa tortilis {{small|Desf.}}
• Stipa tortilis var. pubescens {{small|Ball}}
• Stipella capensis {{small|(Thunb.) Röser & Hamasha}}
• Stipellula capensis var. pubescens {{small|(Ball) F.M.Vázquez}}

|synonyms_ref = {{cite web |title=Stipellula capensis (Thunb.) Röser & Hamasha |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60458043-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=16 May 2025}}

}}

Stipellula capensis, the Mediterranean needle-grass,{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17}} Cape rice grass, Mediterranean steppegrass or twisted-awned speargrass, is an annual grass from family Poaceae.{{cite web|url=http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/plant_profiles/Stipa_capensis.php|title=Cal-IPC: Stipa capensis|publisher=}}

The species ranges from the Canary Islands and Madeira through the Mediterranean basin and Western Asia to the Caucasus, Arabian Peninsula, and India, and is also native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is native to the Persian Gulf desert and semi-desert ecoregion."Persian Gulf Desert and Semi-desert." Biomes & Ecosystems, Vol. 3, Robert Warren Howarth (ed.). Ipswich, MA: Salem Press, pp. 1000-1002. In Persian it is called bahman and is probably the same plant which was used in the Persian festivity of bahmanagān.