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Parish's threeawn
Scientific Name: Aristida purpurea var. parishii
Family: Poaceae
Category: Monocot
Growth: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Other Names:
Parish's Threeawn (Aristida purpurea var. parishii)
Considerations for Pets
- As a grass, Parish's threeawn produces slender awns (bristles), a feature to be aware of around animals.
Nomenclature and Taxonomy
- Scientific Name: Aristida purpurea Nutt. var. parishii (Hitchc.) Allred
- Common Names: Parish's threeawn, Parish threeawn, purple three-awn, purple threeawn, red threeawn
- Rank: Variety
- Family: Poaceae (Grass family)
- Synonyms: Aristida parishii
Distribution and Habitat
- Parish's threeawn is found in southern California and southern Nevada, extending south.
- It is commonly found in rocky, rocky-sandy, gravelly, and sandy washes within drainages, and along creekbeds and riverbeds.
- Specific locations include California and Key West, Florida.
Morphological Characteristics
- It is a perennial graminoid (grass-like) plant.
- It is a fibrous-rooted, several-stemmed herb, forming cespitose (tufted) growth.
- Culms (stems) are typically 20-50 cm in height.
- Leaves are mostly cauline (growing along the stem). Blades are more than 10 cm long, loosely involute (rolled inward) to flat.
- Panicles (flower clusters) are 15-24 cm long with stiff primary branches; the lower branches are strongly .
Ecological Role
- Forage value depends on the species with which it grows.
Quirky Facts
- Other varieties include blue threeawn (A. p. var. nealleyi), purple threeawn (A. p. var. purpurea), and Wright's threeawn (A. p. var. wrightii).
- Sometimes referred to as "Sixweeks threeawn".
Further Information
- Referenced in Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. Washington, DC.
- Also referenced in USDA Misc. Publ. No. 200.