Aristida purpurea var. longiseta
Aristida purpurea var. wrightii
Fendler threeawn, red three-awn
Wright three-awn, Wright's threeawn
10-40(50) cm.
45-100 cm.
sometimes mostly basal, sometimes mostly cauline;
blades 4-16 cm, usually involute.
10-25 cm, involute or flat.
5-15 cm;
primary branches appressed or ascending at the base, without axillary pulvini, stout and straight to delicate and drooping distally, usually neither flexible nor tangled.
(12)14-30 cm;
primary branches usually erect, without axillary pulvini, stiff, straight, lower nodes associated with 2-10 spikelets.
tan to brown, fading to stramineous.
8-12 mm;
upper glumes (14)16-25 mm;
lemmas 12-16 mm long, apices 0.3-0.8 mm wide;
awns subequal, 40-100(140) mm long, 0.2-0.5 mm wide at the base.
5-10 mm;
upper glumes 9-16 mm;
lemmas 8-14 mm long, narrowing to 0.2-0.3 mm wide;
awns (8)20-35 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm wide at the base, lateral awns usually subequal to the central awn, rarely 1-3 mm.
= 22, 44, 66, 88.
= 22, 44, 66.
Aristida purpurea var. longiseta
Aristida purpurea var. wrightii
Aristida purpurea var. longiseta grows on sandy or rocky slopes and plains, and in barren soils of disturbed ground from western Canada to northern Mexico. It is the most variable variety of Aristida purpurea, ranging from short plants with basal leaves and short panicles suggestive of var. fendleriana, to tall plants with long cauline leaves and long, drooping panicles resembling var. purpurea. The length of its glumes, width of its lemma apex, and the length and thickness of its awns distinguish it from all the other varieties. The callus and long, stiff awns are especially troublesome to sheep and cattle.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Aristida purpurea var. wrightii grows on sandy to gravelly hills and flats from the southwestern United States to southern Mexico. It is the most robust variety of A. purpurea, and has dark, stout awns and long panicles. It may be confused with var. nealleyi, which has narrower lemmas and awns and a light-colored panicle, but it also intergrades with var. purpurea and var. parishii. Aristida purpurea forma brownii (Warnock) Allred & Valdes-Reyna refers to plants with short central awns and lateral awns that are only 1-3 mm long.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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