Names
Scientific Name: Aristida purpurea
Synonym: Aristida glauca
Common Names:Blue threeawn, Reverchon threeawn, tres barbas purpura
Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Grass
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Rocky Desert
Flower Color: N/A
Flowering Season: Spring through winter
Height: Blades are 2 to 8 inches long. Flowering stems are 3 to 7 inches and light brown.
Description: This grass grows in bunches. Its fruit has three stiff hairs or bristles, giving it its name. The flower and seed tufts are diffuse rather than thick and brush-like.
Special Characteristics
Two varieties of this species, nealleyi and parishii occur on Tumamoc.
Threeawn seeds provide food for several bird species. This grass also provides larval food for skipper and satyr butterflies. Threeawn plants have been known to live for more than a century.
Classification
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
SOURCES:
University of Texas at Austin, Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Website: wildflower.org/plants.
University of California at Berkeley, Jepson Herbarium Website: ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin
