Aristida schiedeana
Aristida divaricata
single threeawn
poverty grass, poverty three-awn
30-120 cm, erect, unbranched.
25-70 cm, erect or prostrate, unbranched or sparingly branched.
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.
tending to be basal;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous except at the summit;
collars densely pilose;
ligules 0.5-1 mm;
blades 5-20 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, glabrous.
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.
paniculate, 10-30 cm long, 6-25 cm wide, peduncles flattened and easily broken;
rachis nodes glabrous or with hairs, hairs to 0.5 mm;
primary branches 5-13 cm, stiffly divaricate to reflexed, with axillary pulvini, usually naked on the basal 1/2;
secondary branches usually well-developed.
appressed, rarely spreading.
overlapping, usually appressed, sometimes divergent and the pedicels with axillary pulvini.
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.
8-12 mm, 1-veined, acuminate or shortly awned, awns to 4 mm;
calluses about 0.5 mm;
lemmas 8-13 mm long, the terminal 2-3 mm with 4 or more twists when mature, narrowing to 0.1-0.2 mm wide just below the awns, junction with the awns not evident;
awns (7)10-20 mm, not disarticulating at maturity;
central awns almost straight to curved at the base, ascending to somewhat divergent distally;
lateral awns slightly thinner and from much to slightly shorter than the central awns, ascending to divergent;
anthers 3, 0.8-1 mm.
6-8 mm.
8-10 mm, light brown.
= 22, 44.
= 22.
Aristida schiedeana
Aristida divaricata
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.)
Aristida divaricata grows on dry hills and plains, especially in pinyon-juniper-grassland zones, from the southwestern United States through Mexico to Guatemala. It occasionally intergrades with A. havardii, but that species has lemma beaks that are straight or have only 1-2 twists, shorter primary branches, usually no secondary branches, and pedicels that more frequently have axillary pulvini so the spikelets are more frequently divergent than in A. divaricata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
KS Wildflowers
