Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Aristida purpurea
threeawn
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to central Canada and the central U.S.

Habitat: Desert plains, grasslands, and pondersoa pine forests.

Flowers: June-July

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Annual, Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Wind

Description:
General:

Strongly tufted perennial, the stems 2-4 dm. tall.

Leaves:

Leaf blades involute, 1-2 mm. broad, 7-25 cm. long; ligules 0.5 mm long, the frontal margin with hairs 2-3 mm. long.

Flowers:

Inflorescence a narrow panicle 5-10 cm. long, the branches loosely ascending; glumes awn-tipped, the first 7-13 mm. long, the second nearly twice as long; floret 10-15 mm. long, the callus flattened, 1 mm. long; lemma convolute, with a trifid, terminal awn 5-8 cm. long, the lateral branches divergent; palea 2-2.5 mm. long, mush shorter than the lemma.

Fruits:

Utricle

Accepted Name:
Aristida purpurea Nutt.
Publication: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. ser. 2, 5: 145. 1835. 1835.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
(none provided)
Infraspecies:
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Aristida purpurea in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Aristida purpurea checklist entry

OregonFlora: Aristida purpurea information

E-Flora BC: Aristida purpurea atlas page

CalPhotos: Aristida purpurea photos

24 photographs:
Group by