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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Aristida L.

      1. Aristida desmantha Trin. & Rupr.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Central U.S.A. to Louisiana.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Annual; caespitose. Culms erect; 45-100 cm long; wiry. Lateral branches ample. Leaf-sheaths without keel; glabrous on surface, or pubescent, or pilose, or woolly. Ligule a fringe of hairs; 0.2-0.3 mm long. Leaf-blades flat, or involute; 25-40 cm long; 2-4.5 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough adaxially.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; ovate; 8-20 cm long. Primary panicle branches ascending. Panicle branches stiff; scabrous. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets linear; subterete; 10-13 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus elongated; 2 mm long; pubescent; pungent.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets linear; subterete; 10-13 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus elongated; 2 mm long; pubescent; pungent.
    Glume
    Glumes similar; exceeding apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 10-13 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; membranous; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume surface glabrous, or hispid. Lower glume apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Lower glume awn 2-4 mm long. Upper glume lanceolate; 10-13 mm long; 1.3-1.4 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; 1 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume surface glabrous, or hispid. Upper glume apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Upper glume awn 2-4 mm long.
    Florets
    Fertile lemma linear; laterally compressed; 7-10 mm long; coriaceous; yellow and purple; mottled with last colour; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma margins convolute; covering most of palea. Lemma apex awned; 3 -awned. Principal lemma awn 3-branched; recurved at base of limb; with 20-35 mm long limb; with a straight or slightly twisted column; deciduous; abscissing from top of lemma. Column of lemma awn 1-2 mm long. Lateral lemma awns gyrate; 20-35 mm long; subequal to principal.
    Flowers
    Anthers 3.
    Distribution
    North America: north-central USA and south-central .
    Reference
    Aristideae. Gr Tex 1993.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin

    Aristida desmantha Trin. & Rupr. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Drummond, T. [333], Texas K000906136
    Drummond, T. [285], Texas K000906137
    Drummond, T. [285], Texas K000906138

    First published in Sp. Gram. Stipac.: 109 (1842)

    Accepted by

    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

    Sources

    GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0