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Oldfield three-awn, prairie three-awn

Wooton threeawn, Wooton's threeawn

Habit Plants annual. Plants perennial; cespitose.
Leaves

cauline;

sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, lowermost sheaths appressed-pilose basally;

collars glabrous;

ligules less than 0.5 mm;

blades usually 4-12 cm long, 0.5-1.5 mm wide, flat or loosely involute, somewhat lax, glabrous or scabridulous, pale green.

basal and cauline;

sheaths usually longer than the internodes, glabrous except at the summit;

collars densely pilose, hairs 1-3 mm, cobwebby and tangled, often deflexed;

ligules less than 0.5 mm;

blades 4-28 cm long, less than 1 mm wide, usually involute, infrequently flat, usually arcuate, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces glabrous or puberulent near the base, scabrous or puberulent distally.

Inflorescences

spicate or racemose, (5)7-20 cm long, 2-4 cm wide;

primary branches rarely developed.

paniculate, 10-20 cm long, 3-10(12) cm wide;

rachis nodes usually glabrous, sometimes with straight, less than 0.3 mm hairs;

primary branches 2-11 cm, stiffly ascending to spreading, with axillary pulvini;

secondary branches and pedicels with or without pulvini;

terminal spikelets often divergent.

Spikelets

divergent, pedicels with axillary pulvini.

clustered on the distal 1/2 of the branches.

Glumes

unequal, glabrous, brownish-green with a purple tinge;

lower glumes (9)12-22(28) mm, 3-7-veined, midvein extended into a 1-13 mm awn between 2 delicate setae;

upper glumes (7)11-20(24) mm, 1-veined;

calluses 0.5-2 mm;

lemmas (9)12-22(23) mm, glabrous, light-colored, often mottled;

awns (8)12-65(70) mm, subequal, spreading;

anthers usually 1 and less than 0.5 mm, rarely 3 and 3-4 mm.

equal or subequal, 1-veined, acuminate or awned, awns to 6 mm, brownish;

lower glumes 5-10 mm;

upper glumes 6-12 mm;

calluses 0.5-1 mm;

lemmas 7-13 mm, terminating in an obscure, narrow beak 1-4 mm long, 0.1-0.2 mm wide, junction with the base of the awns not evident;

awns 6-15 mm, not disarticulating at maturity, central and lateral awns similar in length and thickness, spreading to horizontal;

anthers 3, 1-3 mm, brown.

Caryopses

8-14 mm, brown.

6-8 mm, tan.

Culm(s)

25-55 cm, erect or geniculate at the base, highly branched.

20-60(75) cm, erect, unbranched.

2n

= 22.

= unknown.

Aristida oligantha

Aristida pansa

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; BC; ON
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from FNA
AZ; NM; TX
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Aristida oligantha grows in waste places, dry fields, roadsides, along railroads, and in burned areas, usually in sandy soil. It has been reported from Coahuila, Mexico, but is otherwise unknown outside southern Canada and the United States.

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

Aristida pansa grows in desert scrub, commonly in the Chihuahuan Desert of the southwestern United States and Mexico, but its ecological range extends into the lower juniper zones and its geographic range to southern Mexico. It prefers cobbly to sandy, often gypsiferous soil. It is very similar to the single-awned A. gypsophila, but it has also been confused with A. purpurea var. perplexa, which differs in having reddish glumes of unequal length and longer ascending awns.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 326. FNA vol. 25, p. 324.
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. floridana, A. gypsophila, A. gyrans, A. havardii, A. lanosa, A. longespica, A. mohrii, 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. patula, A. purpurascens, A. purpurea, A. ramosissima, A. rhizomophora, A. schiedeana, A. simpliciflora, A. spiciformis, A. stricta, A. ternipes, A. tuberculosa
Synonyms A. pansa var. dissita
Name authority Michx. Wooton & Standi.
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