Aristida purpurea var. wrightii

Wright three-awn

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Wright three-awn is a California native perennial found in the Peninsular Ranges and Colorado Desert on sandy to rocky slopes, plains, and shrublands at elevations of 200 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from February to November, this plant produces tan to brown spikelets with delicate, stiff awns 20 to 35 millimeters long. Growing with erect to ascending stems 10 to 25 centimeters tall, it forms clumps with flat to inrolled leaves. Its leaves are slender and cauline, spreading across sandy terrain with distinctive three-pronged awns emerging from each spikelet. The plant's intricate awns and open branching structure make it a characteristic grass of arid southwestern California landscapes.

Habitat: Sandy to rocky slopes, plains, shrubland

Bloom period: Feb-Nov

Elevation: 200-1300 m

Bioregions: PR, D

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