Stipa comata

Hesperostipa comata, commonly known as needle-and-thread grass, is a species of grass native to North America, especially the western third. It has a wide distribution spanning from northern Canada to Mexico. This is a perennial bunching grass producing erect, unbranched stems to about a meter in maximum height. The narrow flower cluster is up to 28 centimeters long in taller plants, with the mature spikelet bearing a spiraling, hairy, spear-shaped awn up to 19 centimeters in length. This is a grass of many habitat types, from grassland to pine forest. Young shoots provide a favored food source for black-tailed prairie dogs and black-tailed jackrabbits, and the grass is a good early spring graze for livestock before it develops its long, sharp awn. This species was described by the explorers during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Needle and thread grass is the provincial grass of the prairie province of Saskatchewan.