Feather grass. Volgograd region

Most of the Volgograd region is occupied by steppes. The steppe is the kingdom of feather grass, also called needle grass. There are more than 10 species of these grasses in the region, of which the most widespread is the narrow-leaved feather grass (hairy kovyl in Russian). Six more species, being rare and endangered, are included in the Red Data Book of the Volgograd region.

Narrow-leaved feather grass (Stipa capillata) is a typical grass of steppes, drought-resistant and light-loving. Its perennial turf grows in width along the edges from numerous shoots, and gradually dies off in the middle, forming a peculiar hollow where rainwater accumulates better. This is very important for the arid southern steppe: here every drop is precious. In order to evaporate less moisture, the leaves curl into a tube. When flowering, from spring to mid-June, long white pinnate awns 12-18 cm long appear on the feather grass. They give the feather grass steppe the appearance of a swaying “gray hair” like the sea. In the fall, the seeds of the stipa grass fly on these “feathers” all over the steppe and stick into the ground, screwing deeper and deeper into the soil.

In fairy tales, bylinas and old songs, the feather grass was called silk grass: so soft and delicate were its brooms with white silky hairs. In the Cossack beliefs steppe feather grass is considered to be a protective grass. Since those times, when foreign nomadic horsemen rushed to our land, a folk belief has been preserved: he who plucks a feather grass and brings it into the dwelling will soon suffer misfortune. The thing is that nomadic raids often fell on the period of flowering of the feather grass. Thus, the beginning of blossoming of the Stipa capillata plant warned of impending misfortune. At the same time, the plant helped to fight the enemies. When grazing on the pastures of grasses, enemy horses got “feather grass sickness”. The sharp awns of the feather grass would dig into the horses' fur and tongues, causing painful wounds and inflammation.

Today the staff of the SBI “Volgograd Regional Botanical Garden” is engaged in introduction testing and cultivation of natural species of stipa grasses in culture conditions. Different species of feather grass successfully grow on the introduction site. In addition, the feather grass is also mass propagated for the reserve fund of plants of natural flora of the Volgograd Regional Botanical Garden.