| Aristida purpurascens | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Aristida |
| Species: | A. purpurascens |
| Binomial name | |
| Aristida purpurascens | |
Aristida purpurascens is a species of grass known by the common name arrowfeather threeawn. It is native to eastern North America. One of the three varieties has a distribution extending south into Honduras. [1]
This perennial bunchgrass produces stems up to 100 centimeters tall. It lacks rhizomes. The leaf blades are hairless, pale green, and up to 25 centimeters in length. They may become curly with age. [2] The panicle-shaped inflorescence has branches appressed to the stem, making it narrow. The awns may be up to 2.5 centimeters in length. [1]
This plant may be grazed when young but as it ages it becomes low in quality and even dangerous for livestock because of the sharp spikelets. [2]
Aristida is a very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. Aristida is distinguished by having three awns (bristles) on each lemma of each floret. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide, often in arid warm regions. This genus is among those colloquially called three-awnswiregrasses, speargrasses and needlegrasses. The name Aristida is derived from the Latin "arista", meaning "awn".
Aristida purpurea is a species of grass native to North America which is known by the common name purple three-awn.
Aristida adscensionis is a species of grass known by the common name sixweeks threeawn. It is native to the Americas but it is distributed nearly worldwide. It grows easily in disturbed and waste areas and has potential to become a weed.
Aristida californica is a species of grass known by the common names California threeawn and Mojave threeawn. It is native to the Mojave Deserts and Sonoran of northern Mexico and California and Arizona.
Aristida divaricata is a species of grass known by the common name poverty threeawn. It is native to the Americas from the central United States to Guatemala. It is a perennial grass forming clumps of unbranched stems up to 70 centimeters tall. Leaves are mostly basal and roll along the edges. The sparse inflorescence is a wide, flat, open array of spikelets that break apart easily. The grain has a twisted tip and three awns up to 2 centimeters long.
Aristida oligantha is a species of grass known by the common names prairie threeawn and oldfield threeawn.
Poa bulbosa is a species of grass known by the common names bulbous bluegrass or bulbous meadow-grass. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is present practically worldwide as an introduced species. It is widespread in the United States and southern Canada. It was introduced to the eastern United States around 1906 and the western US in 1915 as a contaminant in shipments of alfalfa seed. It was intentionally planted on both the east and west coasts to control weeds and prevent erosion. Today it is a common grass across the continent and is a noxious weed in some areas. It is a sturdy, hardy, persistent, aggressive grass that easily outcompetes many other plants and becomes the dominant species in disturbed habitat types, such as overgrazed fields.
Poa cusickii is a species of grass known by the common name Cusick's bluegrass. It is native to western North America from Yukon to Colorado to eastern California, where it grows in many types of habitat, including high mountain meadows and slopes, sagebrush scrub, and forests.
Torreyochloa pallida is a species of grass known by the common names pale false mannagrass and weak manna grass. It is native to North America, especially the east and west sides. It grows in wet habitat, such as rivers, lakesides, bogs, and swamps. It is a rhizomatous perennial grass producing thick, erect to decumbent, sometimes matted stems which can easily exceed one meter in maximum length. The inflorescence is a branching panicle up to 25 centimeters long by 12 wide containing compressed spikelets with up to 8 florets each.
Trisetum spicatum is a species of grass known by the common name spike trisetum and spike false oat. It is native to North America, Eurasia, and South America. In North America it occurs throughout northern regions, including northern sections of the United States and most all of Canada, its range continuing to Greenland. It is widespread throughout the Canadian Arctic Islands. The grass occurs in a variety of Arctic and alpine habitat types, as well as many types of mountainous habitat in regions farther south. It is a perennial grass forming clumps of erect stems ranging in height from just a few centimeters to over one meter. The narrow leaves are mostly located around the bases of the densely clumped stems. The inflorescence is a narrow spike a few centimeters long or up to 30 to 50 centimeters in maximum length. The spikes are green to purple or brownish and shiny.
Ventenata dubia is a species of grass known by the common names North Africa grass and wiregrass. It is native to southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It is becoming well known in North America, where it is an introduced species and a noxious weed of cultivated and disturbed habitat. It is problematic in the Pacific Northwest, where it was first identified in Washington in 1952 and Idaho in 1957. It was found in Utah in 1996. It probably spreads when it gets mixed in with grass seed and is transported and inadvertently planted.
Aristida chaseae is a rare species of grass known by the common name Chase's threeawn. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known from two locations in the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge and the Sierra Bermeja. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. It cannot compete with introduced species of grasses, such as Brachiaria subquadripara, which are invading its habitat.
Aristida portoricensis is a rare species of grass known by the common name pelos del diablo. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known from two locations, one in a residential area of Mayagüez and one in the Sierra Bermeja. Two other known sites have been extirpated by development of the habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Dicerandra cornutissima is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name longspurred mint, longspurred balm, and Robin's mint. It is endemic to Florida in the United States. It is found in Marion County, and possibly Sumter County, but it may have been totally extirpated from the latter. There are 15 known occurrences remaining. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1985.
Dalea purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known as purple prairie clover. Native to central north America, purple prairie clover is a relatively common member of the Great Plains and prairie ecosystems. It blooms in the summer with dense spikes of bright purple flowers that attract many species of insects.
Achnatherum thurberianum is a species of grass known by the common name Thurber's needlegrass. It is native to the western United States, where it occurs from Washington to California and east to Montana and Wyoming.
Amphicarpum muehlenbergianum is a species of grass known by the common names blue maidencane, Muhlenberg maidencane, and goobergrass. It is native to the southeastern United States.
Aristida rhizomophora is a species of grass known by the common name Florida threeawn. It is endemic to Florida in the United States.
Spartina spartinae is a species of grass known by the common names gulf cordgrass and sacahuista. It is native to the Americas, where it occurs from the Gulf Coast of the United States south to Argentina.
Aristida tuberculosa, common names seaside threeawn, seabeach needlegrass, beach three-awned grass and beach needlegrass, is annual plant native to the United States.