A dense perennial plant, the stems are numerous, bare, green with a grayish tint 30-70 cm tall. The inflorescence is low-spike, rare, narrow-celled. Leaf blades 0.3-0.6 mm in diameter, externally shabby, densely covered with short hairs on the inside, sheaths of the stem leaves bare. Tongues of leaves up to 0.3 mm long. The pedicel is about 2 mm long, the bracts are 8–9 mm long, of which the outer one is completely circumferential and is almost covered with hairs, and at the very top there is a corolla made of hairs. The tail is twice cranked, 12-25 cm long, the lower bare and twisted knee 3-5 cm long, the upper one is cirrus, with hairs about 3 mm long [4] . Obligatory Calcephilus. It blooms in June-July [5] .
European-West Asian view of the steppe zone. In the Russian Federation it grows in the regions of the Central Black Earth Region, the Middle and Lower Volga Region, in the Ciscaucasia, Dagestan, in the Southern Urals, in the south of Western Siberia and Altai.
It is found outside Russia in Central and Eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, in Northern Iran, Siberia, and Central Asia [6] .
Limiting factors are cattle grazing, road laying, plowing of virgin steppes, spring fall [4] .
In terms of feed , the Lessing feather grass is the best of feather grass. It is considered mainly a pasture plant, but is also used for haying. Eat well in the early spring. At this time, it contains a significant amount of protein and a small amount of fiber . It is rich in nutrients and its aftermath . At the beginning of heading, the plant's nutritional value drops, and livestock begins to eat it much worse. Horses eat better than other animals; feathers are somewhat worse than sheep; camels are good and satisfactory. Hay harvested before flowering is eaten by all types of cattle, especially horses. Hay harvested during flowering is eaten only satisfactorily and is considered average and even below average quality [3] .
According to The Plant List for 2010, the synonymy of the species includes [7] :
- Stipa brauneri ( Pacz. ) Klokov
- Stipa cyllenaea strid
- Stipa lessingiana subsp. brauneri Pacz.
- Stipa lessingiana var. brauneri (Pacz.) Roshev.
- Stipa lessingiana subsp. cyllenaea (Strid) Strid
- Stipa lessingiana var. zeberbaueri hack .
- Stipa pennata var. lessingiana (Trin. & Rupr.) Richt.
In Russia
In Russia, the species is included in many Red Books of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation : Belgorod, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Penza, Tyumen and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as the republics of Bashkortostan, Mordovia and Tatarstan, and the Altai Territory. It grows on the territory of several specially protected natural territories of Russia [8] .
In Ukraine
Included in the Red Book of Ukraine [9] .
