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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 inflorescence 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.
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