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Florida threeawn, key west threeawn

single threeawn

Habit Plants perennial; cespitose. Plants perennial; cespitose.
Culms

70-100 cm, erect, mostly unbranched.

30-120 cm, erect, unbranched.

Leaves

cauline;

sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, mostly glabrous, summit with hairs;

collars mostly glabrous, sides usually with straight or wrinkled hairs;

ligules 0.2-0.3 mm;

blades 30-55 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, pale yellow-green, loosely involute, lax, glabrous abaxially, with scattered hairs adaxially.

basal and cauline, pale green, sometimes glaucous;

sheaths longer or shorter than the internodes, glabrous except at the summit;

collars densely to sparsely pilose or glabrous;

ligules less than 0.5 mm;

blades 8-30 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, usually flat, often curled at maturity.

Inflorescences

paniculate, 30-45 cm long, 5-25 cm wide, oblong to ovate;

primary branches single or paired, ascending and somewhat lax to stiffly divergent, with weakly developed axillary pulvini, spikelet-bearing to the base;

lowermost branches to 15 cm.

paniculate, 10-30 cm long, (4)8-26 cm wide;

rachis nodes with straight hairs, hairs to 0.8 mm;

primary branches 6-16 cm, abruptly spreading to divaricate, stiff to lax, with axillary pulvini, usually not spikelet-bearing below midlength.

Spikelets

mostly appressed.

appressed, rarely spreading.

Glumes

purplish-tinged, 1-veined;

lower glumes 10-14 mm;

upper glumes 8-9 mm;

calluses 0.5-0.7 mm;

lemmas 8-12 mm, gray mottled with purple or dark patches, narrowing to a slightly curved and twisted beak, junction with the awns not strongly marked;

awns not disarticulating at maturity;

central awns 10-25 mm, falcate;

lateral awns absent;

anthers 3, about 1 mm, brown.

1(3)-veined, brown or purple at maturity, acuminate;

lower glumes 6-13 mm;

upper glumes equaling or to 4 mm shorter than the lower glumes;

calluses 0.8-1.2 mm;

lemmas 10-15(17) mm, terminating in a strongly twisted, 2-4 mm awnlike beak, junction with the awns not conspicuous;

awns not disarticulating at maturity;

central awns 5-12 mm, markedly bent near the base;

lateral awns absent or to 1(3) mm, erect;

anthers 1.2-2.2 mm, brownish.

Caryopses

6-7 mm, chestnut-colored.

6-8 mm.

2n

= unknown.

= 22, 44.

Aristida floridana

Aristida schiedeana

Distribution
from FNA
FL
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Aristida floridana grows in waste places, along road-sides, and on railroad embankments. It is rare in the United States, being known only from Key West and Ramrod Key, Florida. It is more common in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, where it intergrades with Aristida ternipes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Aristida schiedeana grows on rocky slopes and plains, generally in pinyon-juniper, oak, or ponderosa pine communities. Plants from the southwestern United States and northern Mexico belong to A. schiedeana var. orcuttiana (Vasey) Allred & Valdes-Reyna, in which the lower glumes are usually glabrous and longer than the upper glumes, and the collar and throat are usually glabrous. Aristida schiedeana var. schiedeana grows in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras, and has puberulent, equal glumes and pilose collars and throats.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 321. FNA vol. 25, p. 323.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Aristidoideae > tribe Aristideae > Aristida Poaceae > subfam. Aristidoideae > tribe Aristideae > Aristida
Sibling taxa
A. adscensionis, A. arizonica, A. basiramea, A. californica, A. condensata, A. desmantha, A. dichotoma, A. divaricata, A. gypsophila, A. gyrans, A. havardii, A. lanosa, A. longespica, A. mohrii, A. oligantha, A. palustris, A. pansa, A. patula, A. purpurascens, A. purpurea, A. ramosissima, A. rhizomophora, A. schiedeana, A. simpliciflora, A. spiciformis, A. stricta, A. ternipes, A. tuberculosa
A. adscensionis, A. arizonica, A. basiramea, A. californica, A. condensata, A. desmantha, A. dichotoma, A. divaricata, A. floridana, A. gypsophila, A. gyrans, A. havardii, A. lanosa, A. longespica, A. mohrii, A. oligantha, A. palustris, A. pansa, A. patula, A. purpurascens, A. purpurea, A. ramosissima, A. rhizomophora, A. simpliciflora, A. spiciformis, A. stricta, A. ternipes, A. tuberculosa
Name authority (Chapm.) Vasey Trin. & Rupr.
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