Holcus

Soft-grass
Holcus mollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Pooideae
Supertribe:	Poodae
Tribe:	Poeae
Subtribe:	Holcinae
Genus:	Holcus L.
Type species
Holcus lanatus L.
Synonyms1
Arthrochloa R.Br. Ginannia Bubani Homalachne (Benth. & Hook.f.) Kuntze Homoiachne Pilg. Notholcus Nash ex Hitchc. Nothoholcus Nash Sorgum Adans., rejected name

Holcus (soft-grass or velvetgrass) is a genus of African and Eurasian plants in the oat tribe within the grass family.²³⁴

Holcus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora lixella.

Species¹⁵⁶

• Holcus annuus - Mediterranean and nearby areas from Portugal + Morocco to Caucasus
• Holcus azoricus - Azores - possibly a hybrid of H. lanatus and H. rigidus
• Holcus caespitosus - Sierra Nevada in southern Spain
• Holcus gayanus - Spain, Portugal
• Holcus grandiflorus - Spain
• Holcus × hybridus - France, Germany, British Isles -- H. lanatus × H. mollis
• Holcus lanatus - Europe, Mediterranean + nearby areas from Iceland to Canary Isles to Caucasus; naturalized in North + South America, Australia, New Zealand, East Asia, various islands
• Holcus mollis - Algeria, Tunisia, most of Europe; naturalized in Australia, new Zealand, scattered locales in North America
• Holcus notarisii - Macedonia, Italy
• Holcus rigidus - Azores
• Holcus setiger - Cape Prov of South Africa

formerly included¹

Several species now regarded as better suited to other genera; Andropogon Arrhenatherum Arundinella Bothriochloa Capillipedium Centotheca Chasmanthium Chrysopogon Deschampsia Heteropogon Hierochloe Pennisetum Pentameris Pseudoraphis Rostraria Sorghum Sporobolus Ventenata