''Austrostipa'' is a primarily Australian

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the

grass family Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

, commonly called speargrass. The genus includes species formerly included in the genus ''

Stipa ''Stipa'' is a genus of 141 species of large Perennial plant, perennial hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, w ...

.'' 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. The group likely originated in Australia approximately 20 million years ago. ; SpeciesAtlas of Living Australia, ''Austrostipa'' S.W.L.Jacobs & J.Everett Spear-grasses
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References

Bunchgrasses of Australasia Poaceae genera {{Pooideae-stub