Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

Apera

Apera is a small genus of annual grasses, known commonly as silkybent grass or windgrass. They are native to Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia but have been introduced and naturalized in much of North and South America.SpeciesApera baytopiana Dogan - Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey Apera intermedia Hack. - Turkey, Aegean Islands, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus; naturalized in Primorye Apera interrupta (L.) P.Beauv. - dense silkybent, interrupted windgrass - Eurasia and North Africa from Portugal to Sweden to Algeria to Kazakhstan; naturalized in Argentina, Chile, United States, Canada Apera spica-venti (L.) P. Beauv. - loose silkybent, common windgrass - Eurasia and North Africa from Canary Islands to Denmark to Yakutia; naturalized in United States, Canada, and Russian Far East Apera triaristata Dogan - Denizli Province in southwestern Turkeyformerly included

Last revised
Jun 10, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
377 w
Citations
14
Source
Apera
Apera spica-venti3
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Poodae
Tribe: Poeae
Subtribe: Ventenatinae
Genus: Apera
Adans.1
Type species
Apera spica-venti
(L.) P. Beauv.2
Synonyms4
  • Anemagrostis Trin.

Apera is a small genus of annual grasses,5 known commonly as silkybent grass or windgrass. They are native to Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia but have been introduced and naturalized in much of North and South America.4678

Species491011
formerly included4

see Agrostis Anemanthele Dichelachne Muhlenbergia Sporobolus

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Adanson, Michel 1763. Familles des Plantes 2: 495 in French
  2. Tropicos, Apera Adans.
  3. early 19th-Century illustration of Apera spica-venti from http://www.illustratedgarden.org/mobot/rarebooks/page.asp?relation=QK495F19H671801V3&identifier=0165 Title: Icones et descriptiones Graminum austriacorum Author(s): Host, Nikolaus Thomas Schmidt, A Ibmayer, J Publisher: Vindobonae : A. Schmidt, 1801-1809.
  4. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  5. Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. (2008). "The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references". The Grass Genera of the World. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  6. Cabi, E. & M. Doğan. 2012. Poaceae. 690–756. In A. Güner, S. Aslan, T. Ekim, M. Vural & M. T. Babaç (eds.) Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi. Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını, Istanbul
  7. Jepson Manual Treatment
  8. United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
  9. The Plant List search for Apera
  10. Biota of North America 2013 county distribution maps
  11. Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Apera