bunch grass

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of various grasses that grow in clumps or tufts rather than forming a sod or mat.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In general, any grass which grows in scattered tufts or bunches as distinguished from one which forms a continuous sod.
• noun A name given to many different grasses of the Rocky Mountain region and westward, usually growing in distinct clumps.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• (Bot.) A grass growing in bunches and affording pasture. In California, Atropis tenuifolia, Festuca scabrella, and several kinds of Stipa are favorite bunch grasses. In Utah, Eriocoma cuspidata is a good bunch grass.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun any of various grasses of many genera that grow in tufts or clumps rather than forming a sod or mat; chiefly of western United States
• noun any of various grasses of many genera that grow in tufts or clumps rather than forming a sod or mat; chiefly of western United States