Aristida purpurea var. fendleriana

Fendler three-awn

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Fendler three-awn is a native perennial grass found in the San Bernardo Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, eastern Sierra Nevada, and eastern Mojave Desert on dry, rocky slopes and in shrublands at elevations of 1,000 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from April to October, this grass produces purple-tinted spikelets with distinctive long, thin awns extending 18 to 40 millimeters. Growing with slender stems up to 15 centimeters tall, it forms clumps with stiff, straight inflorescence branches. Its leaves are primarily basal, with blades generally 4 to 10 centimeters long, creating a delicate, sparse appearance. The grass is characterized by its striking awns, which are approximately 0.2 to 0.3 millimeters wide at the base and give the plant a feathery, ethereal quality.

Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes, shrubland

Bloom period: Apr-Oct

Elevation: 1000-1800 m

Bioregions: SnBr, PR, SNE, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, San Diego, Mono

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.