E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Aristida purpurea Nutt.
red three-awn (purple threeawn)
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants
Once images have been obtained, photographs of this species will be displayed in this window.Click on the image to enter our photo gallery.
Currently no image is available for this taxon.
 E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Aristida purpurea
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Aristida purpurea var. longiseta

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.
General:
Perennial, strongly tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems hollow, minutely rough, mostly (15) 20-40 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades 1-2 mm wide, 7-25 cm long, in-rolled, minutely rough; ligules scarcely 0.5 mm long, membranous, the frontal margins with hairs 2-3 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a narrow panicle, 5-10 cm long, the branches mostly loosely ascending; lower glumes 7-13 mm long, about 1/2 the length of the upper ones, awn-tipped; florets 10-15 mm long, the calluses flattened, about 1 mm long; lemma awns (4) 5-8 cm long, 3-branched, the lateral branches divergent; paleas 2-2.5 mm long, slightly surpassed by the lodicules.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry grasslands, shrublands and forest openings in the steppe and lower montane zones; frequent in SC BC, less frequent eastward in S BC; E to SW MB and S to LA, TX, NM, AZ and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Aristida purpurea

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
Site Information
 Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 352 444 538
Slope Gradient (%) 0 16 40
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		175 195 205
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		0 1 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 A
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 5
Modal BEC Zone Class
 BG
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(5)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links


Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-17 12:20:01 AM ]
Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.
© E-Flora BC: An initiative of the Spatial Data Lab, Department of Geography UBC, and the UBC Herbarium.