Tufted Hairgrass is an incredibly important and flexible, clumping grass that doesn't get the respect it deserves. It is one of the most widely distributed grasses on earth, with temperature ranges from artic to temperate, and altitude ranges from sea level to 14,000 ft. It can also be found in tidal marshes, open forests, subalpine mountain meadows and seasonally wet prairies. Tufted Hairgrass is a desirable forage for cattle, sheep and wild populations of deer, elk, and bison. Wild horses also find Tufted Hair Grass to be an important part of their diet.  It is also a larval food plant for several species of North American butterfly. For its many benefits, Tufted Hairgrass is considered a keystone species for wet meadows, which is a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend.