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Poaceae
Aristida

Aristida Linnaeus. Common name: Three-awn Grass.

Key to Aristida

A genus of about 250-300 species, widespread in the tropics, subtropics, and warm temperate zones. Cerros-Tlatilpa, Columbus, & Barker (2011) discuss the phylogeny of the genus.

Glossary (beta)

Subfamily: Aristidoideae. Tribe: Aristideae. clade: "PACMAD".

ID notes: The spikelet consist of one floret, the most conspicuous portions being the 3 awn of the lemma (these straight or sometimes coiled). The awn must be dry and relatively mature to assume their characteristic positions (immature awn and moist mature awn are erect and parallel). It is sometimes useful to dry a collection unpressed. Beware; however, that drying followed by dispersal can take place very quickly under the right conditions (such as the dashboard of a hot car!).

References: Allred (1984); Allred (1985); Allred (1986); Allred (2003d) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a); Hall & Thieret (2003) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a); Henrard (1929); Kesler, Anderson, & Hermann (2003); Peet (1993); Ward (2001); Wilder & McCollum (2023). Show full citations.

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Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend. Data for arrows not developed for genera and families which may have species only occurring outside the flora area.

image of plant© Keith Bradley | Aristida condensata | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Richard & Teresa Ware | Aristida tuberculosa CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Bruce Sorrie | Aristida beyrichiana | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Aidan Campos | Aristida beyrichiana source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward | Aristida beyrichiana | Original Image ⭷

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